With You, I Know Not Fear
by paradorx
Summary: Shuhei Hisagi has been given a mission: track down and retrieve Rei Kaneko, a shinigami who's been missing for fifty years. Problem is, once he finds her, he realizes that she doesn't remember a thing. Fullbring Arc, features an OC (yeah I know), multiple pairings.
1. The Beginning!

**Welcome everyone! This is an updated addition to my first Author's Note, written between chapters twelve and thirteen.**

**I just wanted to let all new readers know that you shouldn't just stop after reading the first chapter, because they do, in fact, get better. Maybe it's self-centered to say that, but I believe I'm improving as a writer through this.**

**Well, what are you waiting for?**

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><p><strong>Hello, everyone who decided to give this fic a try! This is my first real story on fanfiction, so don't be too critical. I worked hard to create this story!<strong>

**In case you were wondering, this is the story of Shuhei Hisagi and my OC, Rei Kaneko. If the plot doesn't make sense at first, don't worry. It's not supposed to.**

**Plus, I'm making this up as I go!**

**This chapter is dedicated to Ms-Octoberry, the one who made me get my lazy butt off the computer chair and onto the... computer chair. She's the reason this fic isn't still just a vague idea brewing in the back of my head. Way to go for making me do something!**

**Oh, and I suppose I should add a disclaimer. They may be witty on occasion.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. All I own is my brain.**

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><p>Kisuke Urahara looked at the calendar and swore. Today way the day that the special gigai's abilities would start to wear off.<p>

He was gathering up some equipment, preparing to leave for a trip to another part of the world, when a familiar reiatsu filled the air.

Isshin Kurosaki was standing in the doorway of Urahara Shop in his shinigami form, an odd look on his face.

The man spoke simply. "Ichigo's in trouble. Come with me."

Sighing, Kisuke followed Isshin, knowing that one customer was going to have to wait for her delivery for a bit longer.

If she even knew what it was.

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><p>Mayuri Kurotsuchi was having a bad day.<p>

He had been robbed of prime test subjects by the captain of the Fourth Division, who argued that "they hadn't done anything to deserve torture and disfigurement."

Bah, what do women know?

The only thing that could make his day worse was if he found out that some of his subordinates were idiots and had missed something very important.

Oh, the irony.

"Captain, I have some news to report."

Mayuri glanced over at his lieutenant. "Ah, Nemu. What is it? Come now, I haven't got all day!"

Unperturbed by her father's rudeness, Nemu replied politely. "Captain, it appears that the Shinigami Research and Development Institute has completely missed the presence of a rogue shinigami for fifty years."

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><p>Head Captain Yamamoto looked up in alarm, a strange feeling inside him. "It appears that Kurotsuchi has also been informed," he said to his lieutenant, shuddering.<p>

"Who are you planning on sending to the World of the Living, sir?" asked Lieutenant Sasakibe.

"I thought awhile about it, then decided that Lieutenant Hisagi was the best choice."

"Very well, Captain. I shall send him a hell butterfly. He will arrive shortly."

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><p>Shuhei Hisagi had been proofreading an article for the Seireitei Bulletin when he got the hell butterfly.<p>

"Squad Nine Lieutenant," the butterfly spoke in the Sasakibe's voice, "This is Lieutenant Sasakibe of Squad One. Your presence is ordered in the First Division's barracks immediately."

Dropping everything, Shuhei flashstepped as fast as he could to the appointed place, kneeling in front of Yamamoto, who stepped forward.

"Lieutenant Hisagi," he boomed, "You have orders to locate and retrieve the rogue shinigami Rei Kaneko from the World of the Living. She has been missing for half a century, but…" the head captain paused awkwardly, embarrassed by the information that followed. "We didn't even know she was gone until we located her reiatsu just now."

Shuhei looked up in alarm. "Sir, I truly beg your pardon, but couldn't you send someone else? Since the Ninth Division doesn't currently have a captain, plus we run the Seireitei Bulletin, if I'm away on a mission, no one will be here to keep the squad together."

"I admire your dedication, Hisagi," said Yamamoto, "but one of the reasons you were chosen was so the rest of your squad would grow to become as strong as you. Besides, I think you're the most mature lieutenant that can handle this." He looked away for a second. "You know about the situation in Karakura Town, do you not? We have captains and lieutenants there as well."

"So does this mean I will be joining them?"

"Oh, no. You see, Kaneko isn't even in Japan anymore."

"Then where am I going?"

"The United States of America. A city called 'Las Vegas'."

"…Joy."

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><p>Rin Nakano was hunched over her bathroom sink while her roommate, Felicia, sponged off the drying blood on her skin.<p>

"Why do those monsters always show up when I'm working?" she grumbled, flinching as the rag dug into her skin.

Felicia stood on her toes and clucked sympathetically. "I dunno. At least you finished that customer's dye job before you went out to kill it with your magic powers," she said in her naturally peppy voice.

"Don't call it that. According to the title of the book, it's called kidō." Rin snorted. "Whatever that means."

"It sounds Japanese like you, Rin-chan."

"Yeah. Weird how you learned how to do it too after awhile, huh?"

Felicia pouted. "Just because I'm not some sort of immortal spirit-thingy like you doesn't mean I'm not special!"

Rin laughed and elbowed her in the stomach, which only worked because the tall young woman was already leaning over.

"Ow!" the shorter woman exclaimed, dropping her rag. After picking it up again, Felicia swung her waist-long auburn hair out of her face and glared at her best friend. "You jerk!" she wailed, clutching her stomach dramatically, "You're getting stronger every day!"

Rin chuckled and tied back her black hair, examining her face. She didn't have any bruises or black eyes, though she was disoriented by the brightness of her silver irises. They looked a bit different than usual, but Rin could've sworn she hadn't put any color contacts in today.

Yes, her gray eyes were much brighter, but there was something behind them that was more alien, a sort of power reserve that was just opening up. Rin could feel hints of power pumping through her eternally youthful body.

She snapped out of it. _What the hell just happened?_ Rin thought, shaking her head in confusion. Then, her eyes popped wide open. Her hand flew to her head as a feeling of extreme pain surged through it. The feeling was so intense that it completely filled Rin's mind, stealing her consciousness.

Felicia didn't have time to react before her roommate crumpled to the floor.

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><p><strong>AN: First chapter and I already have a cliffhanger! Sheesh, I'm a jerk. Well, maybe it's my subconscious' way of making you all add this to your alert lists so that you will return for chapter two! MUAHAHAHA!**

**Sorry about that, but I hope you like the story. Please, please, PLEASE review, because if I think no one's reading this, I'll stop spending time on this that I should be using for homework. As in, NO MORE WRITING.**

**So, review please~**

**~Paradox**


	2. What Just Happened?

**Hey everyone! I was disappointed that I didn't get any reviews, but that was only the first chapter. I won't be greedy, but you guys should know that we writers have very low self esteem. Even so, I saw that people all over the world at least clicked on my story. That in itself is amazing!**

**Sorry to be so whiny, I'm sorry! You guys want to read now, don't you? Well, be prepared, because I'm introducing a ton of OCs that you don't need to care about as they will play minor roles. Rin is a bit different, though! :D**

**Oh, I almost forgot! Disclaimer time!**

**Disclaimer: No matter how many times I ask for it for my birthday (which happens to be this Sunday, the 11th), I don't own Bleach. I just own my OCs, of which there are too many.**

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><p>Shuhei twisted the new ring on his hand nervously. It was bright silver with the flaming skull insignia etched into it, giving it the power to remove a shinigami from its gigai. The head captain had given it to him in case he needed to force his target out of the gigai she was using.<p>

He crouched on the roof of a tall, highly decorated building in the middle of Las Vegas. Even in the late afternoon when the neon lights had yet to be turned on, the city still looked gaudy to him. The casinos were all wildly different, each vying for the attention of gamblers and tourists, who crowded the sidewalks and stopped every few feet, snapping pictures and increasing the traffic jam even more.

All kinds of cars puttered along through the traffic, station wagons next to limos, sports cars behind trucks. The noise was even more obnoxious.

Satisfied with his review of the city, Shuhei reached out with his reiatsu, checking simultaneously for hollows and any sign of the rogue shinigami. Somehow, he managed to sense them both.

The shinigami's spiritual pressure was so faint that he almost missed it. _Well_, he thought to himself, _I guess my hollow duties take priority_. He couldn't trace the girl's reiatsu, anyway. The hollow was far away, but Shuhei could sense it better.

The lieutenant leapt off the building, landing on the roof of the closest hotel. Using his shunpo, he quickly traversed the streets, closing the gap between himself and the enemy.

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><p>Rin regained consciousness slowly, her head pounding and a strange babble faint in the background. As her vision and hearing focused, she found eleven concerned faces anxiously focused on her. She noticed that she had been moved from the bathroom and was now sprawled on her futon.<p>

Felicia squealed. "Ohmigosh! I thought you would never wake up!" Rin's roommate flourished her hand dramatically.

A dark skinned young woman in her late twenties sighed and pulled the peppy girl away from Rin. "Now, 'Licia," said Leah calmly, "I think you should give Rin-chan some room." She glared at the others, who were still hovering around the recovering girl. "That goes for the rest of you idiots, too."

A girl in her early twenties with dark brown hair streaked with neon purple giggled. "Aw, come on, Leah-chan," said Alison, her dark brown eyes sparkling. "Rin doesn't give a damn anymore about how we react."

Nick, a young man in his mid twenties with chocolate brown hair and heavy lidded hazel eyes, spoke up. "Yeah, Alison's right. Didn't this happen last week, Rin?" he gazed down in worry at his friend.

Rin groaned in exasperation and clutched her head. "Ask Mai and Nadya," she grumbled.

All eyes turned to two of the girls, one Asian with her dark hair in braids and the other vaguely Russian with blond hair and green eyes. Mai twisted one of her braids and laughed awkwardly. "She collapsed on her way home from the salon last Wednesday."

Delaney, a thin brunette who was holding hands with Nick, chuckled in amusement. "Wow, Rin-chan. Are you sure you're taking your magical meds?"

Delaney's short redhead roommate, a girl named Phoebe, punched her best friend in the arm. "Are you suggesting that we aren't getting Rin-chan what she needs?"

Dante, a Latino boy with dark eyes, sent Phoebe a cool look. "Well, maybe if some people actually managed to pay the Rin tax on time…"

Phoebe's older brother, Michael, gave Dante a playful shove. "I'll pay double next week, okay?" he compromised, laughing good-naturedly.

Felicia had recovered from Leah's calming effect, bouncing back over to her best friend. Y'know, I don't think I paid mine either!" she announced.

Leah looked over at Gerard, the quiet boy who completed the household. "As the head of house," she proclaimed, "I am issuing a decree that states whomever doesn't pay the Rin tax a week after it is due gets their ass kicked by Gerard."

Nick shot her a look of fear, his eyes flicking over to the painfully shy, rail thin boy.

Phoebe and Felicia both immediately began sorting through their respective purses, frantically searching for cash.

Leah left the room momentarily and came back with a black suitcase. She opened it and counted up the money. She took the bills Phoebe and Felicia had handed her, plus a few from the suitcase. She then closed the suitcase and tossed it to Dante. She handed the money to Felicia. "Take Rin out so you guys can get another prescription. I don't trust that guy with the stripey hat, but that little pigtailed girl seems harmless enough. Besides, what if something bad happened to our dear little immortal something-or-other and she used her awesome power to destroy the world?"

The group grew quiet, at least until Felicia enthusiastically grabbed Rin's ankles and proceeded to drag her out of the bedroom. Alison rolled her eyes and picked Rin up, who then leaned heavily on her petite roommate, who was protesting shrilly as her tall friend squashed her.

Rin finally got a hold of her and straightened up a bit. Felicia grinned up at her. "That's better! Now, let's go find your drug dealer people!" She marched out the door, supporting Rin, who groaned in response. "He may be weird, but his meds work!"

The two stumbled down the stairs and finally reached the front door. Felicia carefully opened it and helped her best friend outside, locking it behind her.

Rin looked around the sidewalk, hoping nobody would question their situation. Then again, this was Vegas. Her headache struck again and her hand flew up to her head. But she forgot about it completely as she watched a strange scene unfold before her eyes...

A woman in a glitzy vaudeville costume was walking out of a theatre, a white skeleton-like mask strapped to her face.

All of a sudden, a strange young man appeared, moving so fast that Rin barely registered his arrival. From the angle and the vibrations, Rin guessed he had somehow jumped from a roof.

There was something different about him, and not just the clothing, which was pretty interesting itself. He was wearing a black sleeveless kimono and black hakama, a black choker around his neck and a matching armband on one bicep. On the other was some sort of badge with kanji on it, but Rin couldn't read it from a distance. His spiky hair was black, and it looked like he had some tattoos on his face. The strangest thing was the fact that he was holding a katana in his hands.

Rin froze in alarm as she saw the young man run towards the vaudeville dancer. She sensed a suffocating power emanating from him that almost forced her to her knees, but she resisted with sheer willpower.

The young man reached the woman and, to Rin's horror, he lifted his sword and swung it down on the dancer's head. The blade passed through cleanly, without a sound.

_Wait a second…_

The sword had gone right through her, as if it was just an illusion! The man looked just as confused as Rin did, but the dancer hadn't noticed a thing! It was as if she couldn't see him at all!

This was not true for Felicia, however. She could see the young man perfectly, and proceeded to scream her head off.

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><p>Shuhei located what he presumed was the hollow. It was surprisingly small and humanoid, and it seemed to be storing its spiritual pressure away from its highly decorated body.<p>

The lieutenant hit the ground solidly, the ground shuddering around him. The hollow didn't take notice of his presence. He attacked immediately, bringing Kazeshini down quickly on the hollow's head.

Then the oddest thing happened.

His zanpaku-tō had gone right through the hollow, as if it was just a human or something!

He paused, then began hacking away at the hollow comically, but to no avail.

Then he heard the screaming.

Shuhei whipped his head to the left, where there were two young women standing on the other side of the street in front of a surprisingly nondescript building. Well, one was standing. The other was leaning on her heavily. The lieutenant sensed she was about to collapse.

The standing one was a petite girl with auburn hair and pink lip gloss. She was the screaming one.

_That human can see me?_ Shuhei thought. _She must be one of those special humans like Kurosaki's friends, _he decided.

He looked over at the other girl, wondering if she could see him too. From the combination of shock and horror on her face, he guessed she could.

He was about to look away when he sensed something familiar about her. The lieutenant did a double take and took in the young woman's appearance, trying to place how he knew her.

She looked tall, but not quite as tall as he was. Her hair was jet black and on the long side, clinging to her head as if she had washed it recently and it hadn't dried out yet. Her wide, shocked eyes were a gray that looked almost silver, as unusual as that seemed. She had multiple piercings peppering her ears, as well as one on her right eyebrow. She was wearing cherry red jeans and a black tank with the anarchy symbol printed on it in red.

There was no way he had seen her before. He would have remembered someone so... striking. He almost gave up, but then he had an idea.

He reached out to her with his reiatsu, and his suspicions were confirmed. It was weak, but Shuhei could tell who she was now. She didn't look much like the portrait from back in her academy days, but there was no denying it.

That girl was definitely Rei Kaneko, the rogue shinigami he was looking for.

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><p><strong>AN: Once again, I leave my readers with a cliffhanger! I'm so mean~**

**Well, I'm sorry that I write such short chapters, but trust me, they seem a lot longer when you actually have to write them. I wrote this at 1 AM on Thursday night/Friday morning. It's when I feel the most creative!**

**I really hope y'all are enjoying my fic, and I understand if you don't like OCs. Normally, I don't like them much either, but I started writing original stuff recently! I need to write chapter 5 of my novel by Sunday. I don't feel like that's fair, coz that's my BIRTHDAY!**

**Virtual cookies for anyone who realized what day my birthday fell on. Then again, it's a USA thing, and my viewers are in all different countries. I know, it's kinda suckish, but I have no right to complain.**

**Anyway, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I'm proud of myself for forging on with this story despite any reviews, but it won't always be that way.**

**So review, even if it's just one word!**

**~Paradox**


	3. You Didn't See Anything

**Hey everyone! I know there's readers out there because this story has gotten over 60 hits. That's awesome.**

**Still, it kind of annoys me that of all those people, none of you will take the time to review. I'm going to try to not complain about it, but I really enjoy the feedback. I don't mind if all you say is you didn't like it. Just let me know why, and I'll try to improve in that area. I just feel kind of like a singer at a performance and no one is clapping. And then I just stand there awkwardly and have no idea if the audience liked it or if they just want me to shut up and leave them alone.**

**See how bitter I get when I'm lonely? You guys want me to keep writing, right? RIGHT?**

**I'm losing self esteem by the second. Naturally, since I'm a writer, I had low self confidence to start with, but I can deal.**

**Please R & R... It will make me feel better about myself...**

**Enough of this depressing stuff! Damn, almost forgot the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, but if I did, Grimmjow would be back by now.**

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><p>Rin stared in shock at the black-clad young man, who for some reason was looking right at her in equal disbelief. Why would he do that? At first she thought he might have been staring at Felicia, who by now had stopped screaming but was frozen in place.<p>

Then she made eye contact with him.

The pain hit her quickly. Rin knew she recognized the guy, but she forgot that feeling of familiarity in the storm of pain in her head. This was worse than any of the headaches she had experienced before, but she wasn't fainting. This feeling was much worse.

Images of sword-wielding people dressed in black barraged her mind. Monstrous creatures with white faces and huge holes in their chests overtook her brain, filling her with terror.

Consumed by the pain and strange visions, Rin fell to her knees, already weak from her last blackout. The pain. It was all she could process any more. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

Rin realized she had muttered the last part aloud, chanting, "it hurts" as she pulled herself into fetal position and wrapped her arms around her legs.

People all around them, including the woman who had been attacked by the man with the sword, stared at the two of them. The vaudeville dancer was completely unaware of what could have happened to her, and no one besides Rin and Felicia could see the guy in the black kimono.

A pair of girls about Felicia's age, dressed like they had just walked out of a ritzy casino, walked around the Rin with disgust. "Fucking schizos" one of them said, her voice filled with contempt. Felicia glared at the girl, but Rin was no longer coherent.

Felicia grabbed the girl's arm, trying to get over what she had just seen. "Don't be such a bitch to people you don't even know," she said lowly, her eyes narrow.

The rich girl's expression was one of shock and revulsion. "D-don't touch me! You're both psychos!"

Felicia let go, but held the girl's gaze menacingly as she reached to help her best friend up. "Rin," she said calmly, which was unusual for her, "I know that it hurts. You have the world's worst migraine and it sucks, but you need to get a hold of yourself. We're in public."

Somehow, Felicia's words found their way to Rin's brain. She would have to beat it. Focusing all her willpower on overcoming the pain in her head, Rin pushed back the terrifying and confusing images, clearing her mind. The excruciating pain was now just a throbbing headache. Slowly, she uncurled her body and began to stand up.

The other casino girl, the one who hadn't spoken yet, backed away quickly, like Rin was a leper or something. She had almost a look of fear in her eyes as she watched Rin relax and massage her temples. Rin opened her eyes and looked right at her, smiling awkwardly. "Sorry about that," she said, "I just get horrible headaches."

Felicia could tell the smile was fake. Rin was probably still in a hell of a lot of pain. Even so, she tried to help Rin diffuse the tension. "We were just off to the… nearest pharmacy to get her the medicine she takes for her migraine," she said apologetically.

The first girl smoothed her dress and gazed coolly at them. "Well, it was just an unfortunate misunderstanding, I guess." She grabbed her friend's arm and turned, walking away casually.

Felicia was about to turn her attention back to Rin when she caught the words of the girls as they left. "I guess the one with the black hair's a druggie," murmured one. "Yeah, and I think she has a hangover too," said the other. "Damn alcoholics."

A boiling rage filled Felicia as she heard the horrible words about her closest friend. She tried to stop herself, but the anger was too much.

"Hadō Number One," whispered Felicia fiercely, pointing at one of them. "Shō!"

The kidō spell sent a small wave of force towards one of the girls. As she watched, however, both of the girls were shoved forward by the spell, toppling comically.

Felicia glanced to the side and saw that Rin had fired the kidō at the same time, at the other girl. The tall girl grinned and started cracking up. Her best friend quickly joined in.

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><p>The rogue shinigami and her associate seemed to have forgotten him. That was good, because Shuhei realized that he had just tried to exorcise a human instead of a hollow. Now, that's awkward. He'd have to make sure that none of the other shinigami found out, or he'd be the laughing stock of the Soul Society.<p>

Even so, those two still knew he did it. He'd have to wipe their memories of the incident so that the soul reaper wouldn't blab when Shuhei returned with her.

Shuhei could sense the hollow get stronger. The shinigami swore under his breath. If he didn't get rid of it soon, innocent people could get hurt.

He pulled out the kikanshinki and crept on the two girls. As they laughed and turned, Shuhei activated the memory replacer, a little bird head popping out the top and a puff of smoke filling their faces and knocking them unconscious.

Grumbling, Shuhei placed the rogue and her friend in an alley and used kidō to put up a one-way barrier, preventing any human from seeing the two or going near them. He left without another word, flash stepping away in pursuit of the hollow.

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><p>When Rin woke up, she found herself on the floor of an alley, Felicia next to her. It was now late at night, the alley light up by a nearby streetlight.<p>

She tried to remember what happened, but all that came to mind was the blurry, faraway face of a young man with scars running down the right side. Strange, but whatever.

Rin turned to Felicia, who was still knocked out. All of a sudden, the petite woman shot up and looked at Rin, wide awake. "Wow!" she exclaimed, "I think we really drank too much! You're usually so good at holding your liquor, Rin! What the hell did you drink?"

Rin stared at her friend. "Are you sure we were at the bar?" she asked uncertainly.

Felicia gave her a confused look, but replied perkily. "Of course! That's what I remember, anyway!"

"Well, I can't remember much of anything."

"Really? I don't remember that much, but I think we used kidō on a pair of bitches."

That sounded familiar. But there was something bothering Rin. "Hey, Felicia?"

"Yeah?" the girl replied, her voice chipper.

"If we got drunk and passed out, then why don't we have hangovers?"

Felicia frowned. She was obviously way too cheerful to have a hangover. "Erm… well… I hadn't thought of that. Pretty weird, no?"

Rin took her phone out of the pocket of her red jeans and check the time. "Dammit!" she swore. "It's after midnight! I'm late for my shift!" Rin stood up and ran out of the alley, looking for a taxi to hail.

Felicia caught up to her and scanned the streets. "I'm coming too," the small brunette decided. "Someone has to keep an eye on you."

The taller girl chuckled and hailed a cab. The two climbed into the bright yellow car and named their destination at the same time.

"Kakū no Kōun Casino and Resort," they recited. Rin dialed a number on her phone and waited for the owner of the casino's bar to pick up.

"Hey, Derek? I'm gonna be a bit late… Yeah, something came up. Oh, and I'm bringing Felicia with me."

Rin hear her boss groan and a grin flicked across her face as she said goodbye and hung up. Those two always managed to get in a fight about something. Broken glass and spilled alcohol was sure to follow.

Rin's smile faded as she rethought that last bit. She'd get stuck with cleaning it up.

"Dammit."

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><p><strong>AN: It is complete! Virtual cookies for me, because I finished the whole chapter ten minutes before my self-imposed deadline! Yippee!**

**I'm sorry if it was short or lame, but I didn't have time to proofread. Complain all you want, I just want to know that SOMEONE is reading this and it's not just my friend being a jerk and clicking on my story a bunch of times just to get my hopes up. I'm going to murder him in his sleep someday, but I still haven't been able to get a ticket to Morocco to bring his body there.**

**That probably made absolutely no sense to any of you, but I'm trying to amuse myself. I should stop.**

**Well, time to review! All you have to type is a little phrase, like "good chapter" or "freaking bad" or "what the hell?"**

**Or even "just give me the cookies." Yes, virtual cookies for all reviewers. I know you're out there.**

**~Paradox**


	4. It's Not a Hangover

**Hello all! This chappy is out a few hours later, but where I am, it's still the same day.**

**I'd like to thank two awesome people for reviewing: Ms-Octoberry and AizheNi. You guys are the best.**

**Which reminds me. Over 120 hits, and only 2 reviews? That's 1 review per 60 hits! Sad, people. Trust me, reviewing takes about ten seconds out of your life. And I will love you forever if you review.**

**Hey, I might give a reward for reviewing. In your review, after you tell me what you think of the story, tell me a character you'd like to see in this story. The more people who say the same character, the more likely I will make them important (considering I'm sort of making this up as I go...). Who knows, I may ask for favorite pairings one day.**

**Anyway, R & R!**

**Disclaimer: I do, in fact, own bleach. I used it in the laundry the other day.**

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><p>This mission was not going according to plan. Head Captain Yamamoto had said it would be a one-week job at most, two days to locate the rogue shinigami and five more to subdue and retrieve her. Maybe an extra day, in case she resisted.<p>

Despite this logical theory, Shuhei Hisagi had already wasted the first day. Traveling to this stupid bedazzled city and getting lost (multiple times), going on a wild goose chase for a hollow that he still hadn't located because it kept moving so quickly, and catching just a glimpse of the girl he was after.

Her reiatsu had completely vanished when he used the memory modifier, and Shuhei was worried that the kikanshinki would work differently on soul reapers. For all he knew, she would regain her memories of that evening. Maybe she didn't forget them at all. That would be rather unfortunate, as then she would probably come after him. Or at least warn all her little friends.

That reminded him… Who was that small brunette with Kaneko? At first, he had assumed she was just a naïve human companion, but as he thought about it…

That girl had used kidō? That must mean she was another shinigami! But her reiatsu, which was weaker than unseated officers of the Gotei 13, felt more like a human's. It was similar to that of Ichigo Kurosaki's human friends. Even so, it still seemed unique.

As a definitive test, Shuhei reached out and tried to locate the petite woman's spirit ribbon. It was rather far away, and almost slipped out of his grasp. He finally caught it and examined it.

It was white.

"Damn," he muttered. She was a human. There was no doubt. Her spirit ribbon was pure white.

Or was it?

Peering closely, concentrating solely on the thread of spirit, Shuhei looked for any hint of the red of a shinigami.

There!

The lieutenant noticed that one thread of the spirit ribbon had a pinkish-white gleam. There was red in there somewhere.

Summoning as much spirit energy as he dared in the Human World, Hisagi attempted to unravel the end of the girl's ribbon.

It was extremely complicated and time consuming work, as the ribbon was really just made of spirit energy. Picking at endless glowing white threads, inching ever slowly towards the trace of color, the shinigami toiled, swearing occasionally for wasting his mission time investigating someone who had been near his target.

When would he get to kill that stupid hollow?

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><p>Rin and Felicia jumped out of the cab, throwing the money into the car behind them as they raced towards a large, Asian influenced casino.<p>

Rin tried to ignore the angry yells of the cab driver as they left without even closing the door.

"Dammit," she swore, running through the rock gardens surrounding her workplace. "Why did there have to be an accident so close by?"

"I don't know about you," wheezed Felicia, "But it looked to me like some big monster had torn of that light post and slammed it down on that car."

"You mean like those bad spirits we fight?" replied Rin, not even sweating from the sprint. She could run really fast when she tried.

"Yeah. Maybe we should go on a hunt tomorrow night."

"Do you mean tonight? It's already after midnight."

They finally made it to the main entrance, skirting around limos that pulled up from the long driveway. Rin forced her body to a halt, and Felicia, whose reflexes were only human, plowed right into her, knocking the girls over.

Rin hit her head on the pavement, seeing stars but trying to act tough and unharmed, mainly to prevent any humiliation. This would hurt for a while.

She stared up at the casino, marveling at its design as she always did when coming through the main entrance.

The Kakū no Kōun was a sprawling casino that had the appearance of a Japanese castle from the Edo period. The different buildings were surrounded by cherry blossom trees and gardens, the sand of the rock gardens fitting in much better with the climate than the exotic flowers and trees.

Helping up Felicia as discreetly as possible, which was pretty hard when there were people constantly entering and leaving the resort, Rin took a deep breath and walked through the door, her head pounding once more.

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><p>"Victory is mine!" bellowed Shuhei from the roof of a restaurant, where he had been unraveling the end of that brunette's spirit ribbon for the past hour.<p>

Hisagi looked down smugly at the thin red spirit thread. It had been woven deep into the ribbon, but the lieutenant had found it.

Shuhei paused. Wait, what was the purpose of that? What the hell did it accomplish?

Nothing. Another hour of his allotted time gone.

Oops.

Hisagi swore and began to weave back the threads as quickly as possible. Maybe it wasn't a complete waste. It was certainly something interesting to include in his report.

Well, the report would have to wait. The Squad 9 lieutenant once again caught a trace of the hollow's reiatsu on the air. He leapt off the building shunpo-ing off into the night.

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><p>Rin was pulling on her bartending uniform in the immaculately clean stall in the female staff's bathroom while Felicia was babbling outside the door.<p>

The girl smirked as she looked at the dress, which had started out as an expensive looking black kimono. Pushing the envelope as much as she thought Derek would allow, Rin had ripped off the long skirt and the sleeves, adding a bit of a punk spin that she thought looked much better. Felicia, as a costume designer, had replaced the plain white edging with lime green silk and a matching obi.

Changing into the dress and adding a pair of spiky black heels, Rin gathered up her clothes and squeezed out the stall door. She walked over to her locker and put her clothing in it.

Felicia had been talking about something she had been working on at the theater, but Rin had figured out years ago how to tune out her high pitched, chirpy voice.

"–And then Joss was all, 'Why aren't you a fashion designer?' and I told him it's because I like lolita too much. See?"

Rin looked at her friend sharply. The petite woman had changed, too, into a black and white punk lolita dress with platform combat boots. Even so, she didn't quite catch up to her tall friend.

"No fair," Felicia complained, "You can't wear heels! I'll never be as tall as you!"

Rin chuckled and looked in the closest mirror. "I know that Derek gets pissed when I go overboard, but do you have any green extensions?"

Felicia's already perky face lit up even more. "Yeah! I have all the ones you stocked me up with in the locker, plus all that crazy makeup."

Rin went back to her locker and allowed her best friend to attach a few of the neon green streaks to her pitch-black hair, matching the dress. She added matching green eyeshadow and thick black eyeliner, heavy on the bottom lids. Pondering for a minute, she used the eyeliner to draw a jagged lightning bolt under her left eye, looking like she had some crazy tear tracks under it.

Felicia gave her a once-over. "Wowie. You'll probably scare some of the tourists."

"You will too with those fishnets and that big black bow in your hair."

"The one on your back is bigger."

The two friends continued to argue as they walked out of the changing room slash bathroom, headed towards Kakū no Kōun's upscale bar. Rin had just gotten behind the counter when she heard the familiar sound of glass breaking, followed by the frustrated screaming of one very stressed bar manager.

It was good to be back to normal.

And yet, it felt like she was forgetting something…

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><p><strong>AN: And chapter 4 is complete! Tell me what you think! Is it to fast paced? Too slow? Too descriptive? Not descriptive enough? Just awful? A masterpiece? Let me know how you feel!**

**I respond to 100 percent of reviews, usually through PM, but I may give shout outs to anonymous reviewers in the following chapter. Sorry this came so late, I was at a football game. We lost. Bad.**

**I had wanted to stay home to write this, and my friend told me I should, because fanfics are higher on my priority list than socialization. Peer pressure from my school-spirited friends won in the end.**

**Enough babbling! Send a review my way, and I'll give you any virtual dessert! Not just cookies!**

**~Paradox**


	5. A Drink and a Call

**And here we are at chapter 5! Wow, I can't believe that I have gotten this far!**

**Only got one review for the last chapter (thanks again AizheNi), but I think that I'm really learning here. Any feedback would help me immensely, even if you don't really have much to say. If there's something you don't like, don't be afraid to mention it. If you can't find anything worth critiquing, a simple "good chapter" would make me euphorious. Try it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I do, however, own a witty shirt that is inspired by it.**

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><p>Fortune's Favor was a large, usually high-class bar that was technically part of the Kakū no Kōun Casino, but had its own building on the resort. Though from the outside it looked like an old Japanese building, the pulsing lights were a constant reminder of the independence that the bar exuded rebelling against the status quo.<p>

Inside, the bar was packed with every type of person one could possibly find in Las Vegas: young couples, alcoholics, wealthy tourists, obsessed gamblers, celebrities, punks, and parents escaping their children, all here for a late night of drinking and partying.

Fortune's Favor was more of a club than merely a bar, but it had its own atmosphere that was quite unique. The dance floor was a reflective black, and the rest of the floor had tatami mats dyed blood red laid down, edged in black. The walls were a mix of shoji screens leading to nowhere, dark mirrors that warped everything they reflected, and graffiti-like murals on the wood.

The lights flashed around the dance floor, but were more subdued in the bar area, which had its own strange aura. Pitch black shelves with all kinds of colorful liquids in sinister looking bottles decorated the walls, and the countertop was a long mirror with large, spidery cracks running through, though it felt perfectly smooth.

Behind this counter, mixing liquids from various bottles like some sort of alchemist was Rin, decked out in her new uniform. She prepared a variety of drinks simultaneously, flipping around bottles and sliding some back onto the shelves. Her mind was elsewhere, though none of the customers could tell from the complicated movements she performed automatically.

Remember… try to remember…

There was that guy. His face had something on it, if she remembered correctly. The young man was quite blurry in her mind's eye.

He must have been some random guy in a dream. Some imaginary guy who was conjured up by apparently too much drinking, though Rin was not suffering any of the consequences.

Rin blew a black lock of hair out of her face and set a colorful martini down on the countertop, hard enough to startle the recipient, a young man who had been eyeing some girls on the dance floor, but not enough to make a single drop of the drink spill out. The sharp noise awoke Rin from her odd trance and she apologized to the man.

Working the Witching Hour shift was a pain in the ass.

Not only was it in the middle of the night (technically early morning), but it was also the time when Fortune's Favor became crowded with its most interesting (a euphemism for weird) customers, often freaking the poor bartender out.

Even so, the time thing was more of the issue. It threw off her natural sleeping schedule, making it so she slept from four in the morning until noon, when she ate and left for her other job as a hairdresser at an edgy salon. A nap after that, a quick bite to eat, and some down time. Then it was off to the bar.

Racking her brain, Rin could call up no proof that she had already been there a few hours ago. Maybe Felicia was just remembering wrong. And where was the lolita right now, anyway?

There was a cocktail dress clad girl nearby who was trying to order a drink from Felicia. Rin's roommate claimed she didn't work there, despite the fact that she was currently trying to sweep as much glass as possible into a dark corner of the bar instead of having to pick up the shards. A tan guy in his late twenties came out from the door behind the bar and caught the petite woman in the act. It was Derek, and he looked like he was about to tear out some of his bleached-blond hair the next time Felicia broke something. As usual, he began to yell at her, picking up where he had left off a few minutes ago.

Rin smiled to herself. No matter how much damage her best friend caused, no matter how infuriated Derek was, he never charged the klutzy girl a thing. And it would probably stay that way unless someone pointed it out to him. Those two were always bickering, but Rin knew that they could be great friends if Derek stopped hounding and Felicia attempted to not be quite so lazy.

Well, that would never happen. Rin would more likely get arrested for no reason than witness Derek and Felicia have a friendly, platonic chat.

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><p>Shuhei Hisagi was tired. He had finally found the hollow, and was about to kill it.<p>

But the damn thing was ignoring him.

It seemed to be sniffing the air with its white, bony snout. Shuhei refrained from killing it right away, curious as to what it was doing.

The beast was slender and built for running, it seemed. No wonder it had taken forever to chase down. The strange thing was that in a way, he hadn't been chasing the hollow, because the stupid thing hadn't even noticed him.

It must be focused on something else, then. Something more interesting than a delicious shinigami soul? What could they possibly want more?

Maybe a helpless shinigami, as opposed to a highly trained one who just so happened to be a lieutenant. That was a theory.

The hollow seemed to settle down, disappointed as it lost the scent. Now was Shuhei's chance.

He flashstepped towards the hollow, rocketing right up to its head and cleaving it down the middle. The corrupt soul disintegrated in the usual fashion, leaving no clues of its existence behind, save Shuhei's memory of defeating it.

Before he went back to looking for the rogue soul reaper, the Squad 9 lieutenant had to check in with a status report. He flipped open the soul phone and dialed Izuru's number, only waiting for the other side to ring twice before his friend from Squad 3 answered.

"Hisagi? What is it?" asked the other lieutenant, sounding as worried as usual.

"Hello, Lieutenant Kira. I have a status report that I'd like you to deliver to Head Captain Yamamoto, if you can find the time. Otherwise, I can just call Matsumoto."

"Oh, don't worry! I finally caught up with my paperwork today! And what's this about a status report?"

"The head captain himself gave me a rather strange mission, and a very limited amount of time to work with."

"I haven't heard anything about it. What's going on, wherever you are? Hollow trouble?"

"Actually, no. Apparently, a shinigami who left the Soul Society about fifty years ago has just resurfaced. I have been tasked with apprehending her and bringing her back."

"Huh. That's really strange. I thought we would've heard stories about someone like that."

"Well," began Shuhei awkwardly, "It appears that the Soul Society didn't even notice her departure. We probably never would have known had her reiatsu stayed off the radar."

Silence.

Shuhei paused awkwardly, waiting for a response from the blond haired lieutenant.

Izuru finally responded. "Wow, I hadn't realized that the 13 Court Guard Squads are so… ignorant. It's kind of frightening, but it's more humiliating, to tell you the truth."

The black haired shinigami thought over this answer, and then gave his own. "Well, I should probably get to the report now, shouldn't I?"

"Of course, Lieutenant Hisagi."

"All right. I'm in a large city in the United States known as Las Vegas. It is by far the strangest place I have visited in the World of the Living. Strange humans in odd costumes," he added thinking ashamedly of his ridiculous error from yesterday. "I found the rogue once, accompanied by a young woman who appears to be human."

"What do you mean, 'appears to be'?"

"I unraveled the end of her spirit ribbon. Turns out that one of the threads is red instead of white."

"That's… odd… Is she like Kurosaki's friends?"

"I really don't know for certain. I thought that might be it at first, but I saw her perform a kidō spell. I don't think any mere human could do that."

"I see. So I take it this means that the rogue is in custody?"

"What? No, she freaked out when she saw me. Her friend, too. I used the memory modifier on them both and left to go track down a hollow that appeared."

"Well, the memory thing should be helpful. If it works perfectly on the other girl, she's most likely human."

"That's a relief. Hey, wait… Then what about the soul reaper? Will she regain her memories?"

Shuhei could imagine Izuru's shrug. "We've never really been in that situation before, so we really don't know how to handle it."

"I hope I catch her soon. Don't want her to try and run for it."

"Okay. Is that the end of your report?"

"Yeah. See ya, Kira."

Shuhei ended the call and sighed. This could get really complicated, really fast. Maybe he should put on his gigai and start looking for the rogue. He had a bunch of human clothes that could disguise him, but the girl wouldn't recognize him.

Would she?

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><p><strong>AN: 15 minutes late. I feel horrible. Only five chapters in, and I'm already missing my self-set deadlines! How awful!**

**Well, at least I'm done. Tell me what you think. I respond to every review I can. R & R is good for the soul.**

**Hey, just had a brilliant idea. When you review, mention one of your favorite characters from Bleach. I might decide to include them in this story. Maybe I'll even accept pairings later.**

**Toodles!**

**~Paradox**


	6. Step Away From the Vodka

**Hey there, readers! Sorry that this update is a bit later than usual, but I still updating more regularly than some. I just had lots of things to do yesterday.**

**Thanks to AizheNi, Ms-Octoberry, and Juliedoo for your wonderful reviews. I'm happy that you guys like the story. Reviews are what keep me writing.**

**Disclaimer: No matter how many times I wish it, I still don't own Bleach. I'll just try once more.**

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><p>Shuhei Hisagi examined his gigai in a puddle lit up by a streetlamp. He really had an interesting collection of human clothing. He was wearing a studded black leather vest zipped halfway down with the high collar flaring up around his neck, dark jeans with chains swinging down on the side, black high-tops designed to look bloodstained, leather fingerless gloves, and his ever-present studded choker and armbands.<p>

It was better than that one time when he wore that shirt that looked like it was made out of fishnets. Renji would never let him live that one down. Then again, the pineapple had been wearing a Chappy shirt, so he wasn't one to talk.

Concentrating as fully as possible, Shuhei attempted to locate Rei Kaneko, the rogue shinigami. With that hollow out of the way, it was a bit easier for the lieutenant to find sources of relevant spiritual pressure. There were quite a few with at least a bit of reiatsu, but most of them were in one building. The other three were clustered together in another part of Vegas.

Taking the lazy way out, Shuhei scanned the three in hopes that one of them was his target. Well, the first one was that auburn-haired girl that the rogue had been with earlier. That bit was promising. The next one he didn't recognize. It was about half as powerful as the first. Just some other human associate, he presumed.

Now, on to the last one.

"Hmm," he murmured, examining the reiatsu. This one was strange. Most of the time, it was rather low, lower than the second source. But every once in a while, it would spike, as if the spiritual pressure had been building up yet hidden, and when the pressure was too much, it just let it go. That interesting property aside, Shuhei determined from the spiritual signature on it that this reiatsu did indeed belong to Kaneko. To be honest, he had never seen such odd behavior before. When he brought her back to the Soul Society, he'd make sure to mention that to Squad 12. Then again, he might get in trouble for letting the rogue get dissected before her trial. He'd think of something.

Time was slipping away. The deadline would be on him before he knew it. Shuhei had to get moving. As he was about to flash step towards his target, the lieutenant remembered that he had already gotten into his gigai. He would have to walk there. How inconvenient.

Stepping out of the damp alley where he had been lurking, Shuhei began walking down the sidewalk as quickly as he could without drawing attention. Judging by the humans around him, his wardrobe wasn't unusual enough to gain any stares. He did, however, get quite a few appreciative glances and giggles from young women, mostly older teenagers and girls in their twenties. Shuhei just kept storming down the street, oblivious to all the girls who didn't realize he was over a hundred years older than them. Not to mention a soul reaper.

The smiling and eyelash fluttering was increasing, finally warranting Shuhei's attention. Annoyed at the minor distractions to his mission, the lieutenant just scowled.

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><p>Rin had only been bartending for an hour, but she already wanted to go home. Back to the large, untidy, culture-clashing mess of a building that almost all the people she considered friends called home. All that the girl wanted at the moment was to crawl into her bed and curl up in fetal position. And make her housemates feed her soup. And give her the pain medication.<p>

Even though she put on a smile for the customer's benefit, she felt like hell.

Felicia was sitting up on the mirror-like counter of the bar, chattering away about her job as a costume designer. Somehow, Rin noticed, the girl ended up ranting about how infuriating Derek was. Sigh.

"–And then that little bimbo of his that calls herself his girlfriend takes one look at me and says, 'Get back to scrubbing the floor.' I mean, seriously! I have my rights, you know! I can wear my maid outfit whenever I want! That slut just doesn't appreciate lolita fashion! But do you know what Derek said to Kayla after that? He said–"

"ENOUGH!" roared Rin massaging her temples. Calming down, she picked up a martini glass and a rag. "Look, 'Licia. I love you to death– well, whatever kind of death something like me can have– but I'm really tired of you going on about those two! I don't like Kayla either, and I know that you and Derek have your little… arguments, but I just got a huge headache and your tirade isn't helping."

Felicia gazed at her best friend apologetically. "Sorry, Rin-chan. I kinda got carried away." She snapped her fingers in realization. "Hey! Didn't we leave the house to go get you your meds?"

"Huh…" mused Rin, "I suppose so."

"Well, Derek won't let you go any time soon, so make yourself a grenadine cocktail and power through. And if you don't feel like drinking, then I'll take it."

Rin groaned affectionately and waved the martini glass. "You're not gonna trick me into giving you free drinks today, 'Licia. Maybe this martini. Is dirty okay?"

"You know me, I drink anything as long as it's got alcohol."

"All right," Rin chuckled and poured gin into the unclean glass, then added a swig of olive juice and stirred. "Here. As dirty as it gets."

"Thanks!" said the petite woman, grabbing the glass. As Felicia brought it to her lips, a look of horror crossed her face. "Hey!" she exclaimed, spitting out the alcohol. "You didn't clean this glass! Ew ew ew ew EW!"

Rin laughed and grabbed the grenadine bottle, along with a multitude of different kinds of alcohol. "You idiot, you know I follow policy. Now, what should I use in MY drink?"

Felicia scowled and scooted over, then began pointing to different bottles "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Rum and liqueur. Have fun with that, you bitch," the auburn haired girl grumbled.

The taller girl rolled her eyes and began mixing the cocktail. "Get out the maraschino cherries and I'll let you have a few for free," she compromised.

Derek chose that moment to walk over. "Stop trying to scam Rin into giving you free stuff, Shorty," he growled from behind Felicia, pushing her off the counter. "And stop wiping your ass on the countertop. The cleaning supplies are in the back."

"Derrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeek," whined the young woman, standing up and straightening her dress. "Stop bullying meeee. You and Rin are such jerrrrrrrrrks."

Derek looked at the shorter girl in alarm. "Have you been drinking? I'd forgotten what a whiny drunk you are."

Rin looked over and saw that her best friend had poured herself a glass of vodka and drunk it. She glared at the brunette. "Felicia!" she scolded, "Don't drink my booze!"

Felicia scowled. "I'm just messing with you two. I'm not even tipsy," she declared, and promptly hiccupped. "Damn," she muttered.

Derek bopped the girl on the head. "Next time you drink here without paying, I'm adding it to Rin's tab!"

Rin shot Derek a knowing look that was a mix of annoyance and smug insight. "You know, you could just set up a tab for Felicia herself," she said, smirking. "Or maybe just get used to the fact that when it comes to her, everything is on the house."

Derek reddened a bit and walked away sharply, muttering under his breath about meddling immortal girls.

Rin took a sip of her cocktail and giggled.

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><p><strong>AN: Ah, another chapter done! So, what did you guys think? Put your thoughts in review form.**

**By the way, just though I'd let you guys know that I've reached 300 hits! That's awesome!**

**Remember, include you favorite character in your review and they might make an appearance later in the story!**

**Ciao for now!**

**~Paradox**


	7. Have We Met?

**Hey, readers! I have returned with the next chapter! Sorry this one's out later. I was at a friend's house last night. We had a cast party/reunion/sleepover. 7 and a half hours of watching musicals, another hour playing board games, and a bunch of other fun stuff.**

**Well, I just want to let you guys know that I added something. There's a song in this chapter, and I want to see how well I incorporated it. If you don't like the band, fine. If you do or you just don't hate them, I highly recommend listening to the song. It wasn't my favorite on the album at first, but suddenly, BAM, I loved it. Lyrics are in italics.**

**Once again, thank you AizheNi. You're the best reviewer ever.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I also don't own My Chemical Romance, but they own my heart and soul.**

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><p>All of the bright, glaring lights were starting to give Shuhei a headache. He didn't care about any of these places. They all looked absolutely ridiculous.<p>

The lieutenant looked to the sky and shook his head. He couldn't see any stars at all with the neon city of Las Vegas lighting up the sky. It was never truly night in this garish collection of casinos. Hopefully, he would be leaving in less than a week. That is, if he ever found Rei Kaneko.

Speaking of the rogue, her reiatsu had slipped off the radar about ten minutes ago, forcing Shuhei to track that short friend of hers. No way was he going to let this one go.

Finally, a large building that reminded Shuhei of the nobles' mansions in the Soul Society came into view. It was at the end of a long driveway bordered by Japanese gardens. Making his way quickly down the sidewalk, the shinigami grimaced as he passed a horribly stereotyped rock garden. If they didn't know what they were doing, they shouldn't have done it in the first place, he reasoned.

Shuhei adjusted his choker nervously and walked up to the casino, the neon sign proclaiming the resort to be "Kakū no Kōun." Well, that was an accurate description for a place of gambling. As he stood in front of the huge faux shoji screens, he noticed a path to the right that led to another imitation-Japanese building that had strange pulses of light showing through the windows. The girls were definitely in there.

Striding quickly along the path, the lieutenant picked up the barest trace of the rogue soul reaper's reiatsu, proof that he was heading in the right direction. As he approached the building, he could hear the music, muffled by the walls. Shuhei glanced up at the sign as he entered the club, chuckling at the irony of naming it "Fortune's Favor."

Pushing the first set of glass doors open then sliding the paint-splattered shoji screen to the side confidently, Shuhei was hit by a mixture of sensation. The floor was red and black, the walls haphazard and confusing, the lighting low. He smelled alcohol and perfume and felt the body heat of those on the dance floor. Many people were talking over the music, almost all in English, one of the languages in which the lieutenant was fluent. The music was loud, fast-paced and sinister, unlike what he thought American pop sounded like. This club must have more alternative bands.

Before he went looking for the rogue, Shuhei decided to lose a bit of steam on the crowded dance floor.

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><p>Rin peeked down at her iPod, which she had hooked up to the bar's speakers. Success. The playlist would keep her happy and help her forget about the pain in her head.<p>

Felicia popped another maraschino cherry into her mouth and nudged her best friend. "Hottie just walked in. Looks like your type."

Rin grinned and scanned the entrance. She identified the guy to whom her roommate had been referring quickly. The ripped black jeans and chains. The sleeveless leather jacket and fingerless leather gloves. The choker and armband showing off his biceps. His tattoos. His scars. Definitely her type.

Rin watched him as he joined the mass of bodies on the dance floor. She would have to talk to him later.

It was kind of weird, though. He almost looked familiar.

She shrugged off the feeling and smiled as she heard one of her favorite songs come on. The band was a kind of alternative punk, but this song had a bit of a Wild West theme to it that made her grin.

She ate a maraschino cherry and put the stem into her mouth, tying it into a knot and putting it on a napkin. "That makes nine for me, and three for you."

Felicia swore and grabbed another cherry, throwing it in her mouth as she spotted Derek. "Gotta go. Make sure you don't let that guy leave without getting a drink."

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><p>Shuhei gave himself a quick English quiz by listening to the lyrics of the song that just started, but ended up confusing himself. Well, it was art, so it didn't have to make sense to everyone.<p>

_Wait until it fades to black_

_Ride into the sunset_

_Would I lie to you?_

_Well I've got something to say_

Giving up dancing, Shuhei drew his attention to the bar, where the three with notable spiritual pressure were hanging out. The petite girl with auburn hair in a black and white lolita dress was following the owner of the spirit energy that the soul reaper had not recognized. The soul reaper now realized that this young man was just as powerful as the woman, but he was hiding half of his reiatsu. Interesting. He was tall, tan, blond, and pissed. How American.

_Grab your six-gun from your back_

_Throttle the ignition_

_Would I die for you?_

_Well, here's your answer in spades_

The shinigami approached them, close enough to eavesdrop. Which, incidentally, wasn't too close at all, considering how loudly the two were shouting.

_Shotgun sinners, w__ild-eyed jokers_

"I don't care if you and Rin love them! This is the fourth My Chemical Romance song you've played in a row!" yelled the blond guy, stomping angrily.

_Got you in my sights_

_Gun it while I'm holding on_

The brunette jumped on his back and got him in a headlock. "Aw, pleeeeeeeease? Rin said that she really wanted to listen to Three Cheers today, so I'm picking my favorites."

The young man struggled to remove the small woman from his back and groaned, defeated. "Fine. Just make sure not to play Cemetery Drive again. I had that song stuck in my head all day yesterday because of you two."

_After all is said and done_

_Climb out from the pine box_

_Well I'm asking you_

_'Cause she's got nothing to say_

Convinced his English was adequate, Shuhei strode over to the bar and sat down on a black leather stool, right in front of his target, who was sipping a blood red martini with one hand and getting beer from the tap with the other. Kaneko passed the beer off to a waitress and drained her drink.

_The angels just cut out her tongue_

_Call her black Mariah_

_Would I lie to you?_

_That girl's not right in the brain_

The girl was wearing what looked to be a highly altered (vandalized) black kimono with its sleeves and most of the skirt ripped off, leaving a jagged edge. He suspected that the neon green obi was all that was holding the garment up. The rogue now had matching streaks in her black hair, and as she turned, Shuhei noticed a few more things about her.

Firstly, she had some unusual makeup on, a black lighting bolt coming out from underneath one eye, reminding the lieutenant of the markings the arrancar had.

_Mass convulsions, strike the choir_

Secondly, she was in pain, but trying to hide it. Though she plastered a smile on her painted face, Shuhei could tell that it was masking something that was upsetting the girl greatly.

_By the grace of God_

_Gun it while I'm holding on_

Finally, she was much more beautiful up close.

_But don't stop if I fall_

_And don't look back_

_Oh baby don't stop_

_Bury me and fade to black_

The rogue sauntered up to the counter in front of him, a foreign look in her face that Shuhei didn't bother to interpret. He was just glad that she showed no obvious signs of recognition from a few hours ago, but then again, this was a woman who had outsmarted the Soul Society for half a century. She might have been faking it, but Shuhei trusted the memory modifier's abilities.

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_So get your gun and meet me by the door_

And then it happened.

S_he won't stop me– put it down_

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_So get your gun and meet me by the door_

When Kaneko leaned in over the counter, an overwhelming aura of painful sadness and anger crashed into Shuhei. Taken aback, he realized that it was coming from the girl, but more specifically from a scar centered on her chest, almost exactly where her heart was.

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_So get your gun and meet me by the door_

It was a faint scar, barely visible underneath a layer of makeup obviously applied to mask the injury, but the spiritual energy radiating from it glowed darkly in the shape of an X. He stared at it, transfixed by the darkness emanating from the strange scar. It was not evil, he decided, but it seemed worth investigating.

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_She won't stop me– put it down_

_So baby…_

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><p>"My eyes are up here, honey," Rin said with an amused smirk on her black lips, causing the black-clad man to look up. If any other guy had ogled her, Rin would have thrown them out. There was something different about this guy. He looked so… mysterious. Like he didn't belong in this public place filled with rude humans. Plus, he was super attractive.<p>

He reddened slightly at the meaning of her words and met her gaze defiantly, silently protesting the accusation. The embarrassment surprised Rin, who assumed he was rather open, judging by that suggestive 69 tattoo on his face, opposite those three long scars.

_Don't stop if I fall_

_And don't look back_

_Oh baby don't stop_

_Bury me and fade to black_

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><p>"Hey," Shuhei said eloquently, congratulating himself on his mastery of English vocabulary.<p>

"My name is Rin," she said pleasantly, slighting shocking the lieutenant. No, her name was Rei. Rei Kaneko. Was she living under a pseudonym? That would make sense.

_Oh, don't stop if I fall_

_And don't look back_

_Oh baby don't stop_

_Bury me and fade to black_

"Can I get you anything?"

Shuhei thought for a moment, and then decided not to experiment with foreign alcohol. "Do you have any sake?" he asked, still slightly confused by the rogue's casual actions.

_Don't stop, oh baby, don't stop_

The female shinigami grinned. "Hooray, someone else who can appreciate the goods of the home country. Is a shot glass okay?"

Shuhei nodded in assent and silently conjugated English verbs in his head while trying to come up with a plan to arrest the bartender. He would have to speak with her privately.

The girl made her way back over with the small glass, filled to the brim with good sake. "Here you go," she said, sliding it over to the lieutenant. He downed it in one gulp, causing the female bartender to grin wickedly. "Now, that's the way to do it in the good old US. No fancy saucers out of Japan."

Shuhei shrugged. "My drinking buddies and I usually drink it from the bottle. Then again, we're not in Japan either."

Her smile widened. "Oh, really? Where are you from?" She leaned around him and scanned the bar. "I don't see these buddies with you."

"I'm here alone. On important business, you see."

She checked him out skeptically. "You look more ready to hit up a few clubs and then hit up a few gangsters, if you ask me." She gestured to his face in amusement. "Nice tats."

_Don't stop!_

"Thanks, I guess. My name is Shuhei Hisagi, by the way."

The rogue took his empty glass and refilled it. "It's nice to meet you, Shuhei," she said, causing the young man to wince at her informality.

"Look, Miss Kaneko," he said in a low voice, tired of acting friendly. "I really need to talk to privately. I know who you really are."

A look of shock and confusion warped Kaneko's face. "W-what are you talking about? Are you insane?"

Shuhei scowled. "I saw you use kidō earlier today. Don't deny it."

The girl's face turned white. "Are you like me? Are you immortal too?"

"I'm not sure immortal is the best word to describe it, but yes, we are the same type of being. Actually, we're dead."

Kaneko gaped at him. That was unusual. She should at least remember that she was a shinigami.

"Oh, and by the way, you're under arrest."

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><p><strong>AN: Woohoo! Slightly longer chapter, all written in one go! Hip hip hooray for me! (That's an MCR quote, by the way)**

**So how did you guys like the chapter? The song? It's called Hang 'Em High, by My Chemical Romance. It's on their second album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, which is my favorite album ever.**

**For those of you confused by the song's relevance: It isn't. The song is unrelated to the plot as far as I know.**

**For those of you who analyzed the song and the chapter and found a connection: I meant to do that. Trust me. Just let me know what it is first.**

**Don't go hatin' on the band, they're not what you might have thought. It bothers me that people who haven't heard the music but have heard of the band have this prejudiced image of them in their minds. Just listen to one of their songs. They have something for everyone.**

**Review please!**

**~Paradox**


	8. Do You Live Under a Rock?

**Sorry that this chappy came out late! I meant to finish it last night before I went to a double feature with my friends, but I had to go to my sister's soccer game. I finished it this morning, but then my internet connection went bad.**

**Well, it's up here now! And I'm proud to say that this fic has over 500 hits!**

**I thank BleachBoy95 and AizheNi for reviewing since I last updated. You guys make me happy!**

**This chapter is dedicated to AizheNi, my new best friend! (according to me anyway)**

**I decided that I wanted to make the majority of this chapter from Shuhei's POV, so let's see how it goes!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, and I'm too tired to think of something witty.**

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><p>The strange man named Shuhei Hisagi grabbed Rin tightly by the wrist and yanked her over the bar counter, somehow managing to not knock anything over nor rouse the attention of anyone else in the bar.<p>

"We need a place nearby to talk privately," he said lowly, barely audible over the pounding music. His nails dug into her arm as he pulled her towards the exit.

"We can't just leave!" cried Rin, trying to remove her hand from his iron grip. She was terrified at the strength of his hold. It really was superhuman, she thought dizzily. "My shift isn't over! I'll have to ask for permission from my boss!"

Shuhei stopped suddenly, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Fine," he said coldly, "Just don't tell him what's going on."

Rin nodded and looked around frantically for Derek– or Felicia, considering how often the two were together. She finally spotted a flash of short, golden hair on a tall young man, followed by a long sheet of auburn hair on a girl dressed up in lolita. There they are.

Rin did her best to pull Shuhei and herself in the direction of her friends. "Hey, Derek!" she yelled over the music.

He turned and saw her with Shuhei. "What is it?" he yelled, making his way over to them, Felicia right behind him.

"I, uh, have to talk to this guy privately. It's kind of important."

Felicia grinned wickedly and gave her a thumbs up, while Derek groaned and did a facepalm. "I don't suppose," he began, "that you'll be coming back anytime soon, so you're on Happy Hour shift next week."

Rin reddened at what the two were suggesting, which made what she was about to request next even more awkward. "Erm, can we… borrow your spare hotel room up at the casino?" she asked, too embarrassed to meet his eyes.

"I suppose. You really owe me, you know. Just don't go too crazy and trash the place."

The dark haired girl smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks so much." She started to back away. "Come on, Shuhei, let's go." She looked back at Derek and Felicia, who were now gossiping like old ladies. "Oh, and Derek?" she called.

"Yeah?"

"Just make Felicia finish my shift. She could do with some manual labor."

The petite woman shrieked and tried to run away, but Derek caught her by the waist and lifted the brunette over his shoulder, laughing as he took the protesting female to the bar, where she would spend the next few hours getting quality time with cleaning supplies.

Rin shook her head in disbelief as Shuhei led her out of Fortune's Favor, into the night lit only by the signs of nearby casinos. Seriously, what was with those two?

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><p>Lieutenant Hisagi dragged the rogue after him, walking swiftly towards Kakū no Kōun's main building. "Do you have the room key?" he growled.<p>

"No," came the surprisingly calm voice of Kaneko, "but I don't need one for his room. It has a password."

The male shinigami was silent after that, ignoring her until they reached the employee entrance. He let go of the girl then, trying not to show alarm when he saw a bruise starting to form on Kaneko's wrist. Had he really been holding onto her that tightly? What kind of weak soul reaper was she?

He opened the door and bowed slightly, gesturing that the rogue shinigami enter. "Ladies first," he said grimly. "Lead the way."

Kaneko nodded, her fear barely showing. She stepped inside quickly and looked at the map on the plain white walls of the employee's only hallway. The female soul reaper started off quickly down the hall, not waiting for Shuhei.

He closed the door behind him silently and caught up to her with flash step, causing the girl to lose her mask of cool. "You really are different," she said breathlessly, her face whitening in shock.

The lieutenant merely shrugged in response and waited for her to get going again.

After a walk down numerous hallways and a few flights of stairs, the two were in the guests' part of the hotel. Shuhei followed behind Kaneko closely, wary for any signs of an escape attempt.

Kaneko herself had regained her composure, walking quickly and professionally in measured steps, putting one foot perfectly on front of the other.

Shuhei made a mental note of this. Anything unusual about the girl's habits may be relevant in the future, even her graceful gait.

Finally, the rogue stopped in front of a black door marked with the number 666. She smiled tentatively. "I know, I know," she said quietly. "The staff gave the room to Derek, my boss, because they thought the room was haunted." She relaxed slightly, the stiffness leaving her shoulders. "I guess it kind of is. There's a spirit, or a ghost or whatever, that hangs out here. He got shot in the room back in the eighties, and his soul has been around here ever since."

"And you never performed a konsō on him?" he asked incredulously.

Kaneko stared at him in confusion. "What's a konsō?"

Hisagi's jaw dropped. "What the hell? You don't even know what a konsō is? What kind of shinigami are you?"

The rogue began to inch away from the lieutenant, but she was trapped between him and the door. "I don't think this is going to work," she said weakly, putting her hands behind her back.

Shuhei was so astonished that he didn't even notice that the girl had typed in the password on the keypad. Suddenly, she opened the door to the hotel room and fell back through the doorway, slamming the door shut at an incredible speed. That had to be hohō. No way was that a move a human would be capable of. What was going through this girl's head?

The 9th division lieutenant stared at the closed door. How could he get in without disturbing the nearby humans? A threat?

He pounded on the thick black door with his fist. "If you don't open this door in the next ten seconds," he began, loud enough for the girl to hear but not enough for those in other rooms, "I'll blast it open with kidō. You don't want that, do you?"

"You're crazy!" said Kaneko from within, her voice muffled by the door. "You must be some insane stalker guy who eavesdrops on my private conversations, and now you're trying to convince me that you know what's going on!" At that point, Shuhei heard her voice break. "I don't even know what's going on."

Hisagi sighed. "Look, I didn't mean to frighten you. The first time I saw you was last night. I promise that if you let me in, I won't hurt you."

"I don't trust you."

That hurt him a little. There was so much fear and hatred hidden in those words, but it came off cold, as if she was stating a fact. Then Shuhei had an idea.

"Kaneko?"

"That's not my name. My name is Rin Nakano, and I thought that's what you said earlier, but now I know otherwise. I trust you even less."

Shuhei groaned and slumped against the door. "Look, 'Miss Nakano,' I know that it's not your real name. Lying will get you nowhere at this point." He realized that this probably wasn't the best time to remind the rogue of her arrest. "What if I prove to you that I am what I say I am? Then would you trust me?"

There was a pause before the girl answered. "I suppose, but how are you going to do that without me opening the door so I can see you?"

"Then I'll go through the door."

"What?"

Shuhei took out the silver ring with the flaming skull symbol out of the pocket of his pants. He then pressed it against his chest, forcing his soul out of the gigai. As he stepped out of it, the gigai slumped to the ground, like a drunken guest who had passed out in the hallway. Now in his shinigami form, Shuhei concentrated on spreading his reiatsu out thinly, allowing him to pass through the door. Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki had informed him of this technique. Apparently, she had used it on the night when she first met the infamous Ichigo Kurosaki.

Walking through a solid object was an extremely strange sensation, as if he was swimming through some thick, gelatinous substance. It was not a pleasant experience. The soul reaper now understood why this wasn't a popular technique. After he passed through completely, he felt rather lightheaded, as if the rest of his spiritual energy hadn't yet returned to his body.

Shuhei looked around the hotel room. It was a suite with two rooms. He could see through the open shoji door to the bedroom and its adjoining bathroom. The floor of the living room was a dark wood, covered in tatami mats. The walls were a light green, and some of the furniture seemed to model that found in Japan, though much of it was still American. There was a black leather sofa near the television, but he saw a circular chabudai in between. The short-legged table had four green zabuton cushions surrounding it.

Kaneko was standing near the TV, her back pressed against a closed window. Her eyes were huge with shock and fear as she saw Shuhei in his true form.

He walked toward her slowly, trying his best not to alarm her any further. "Do you believe me now?" he asked calmly.

The female shinigami nodded mutely in response.

Shuhei kept his distance. He turned around and opened the door, pulling his gigai inside.

Kaneko gasped when she saw the limp gigai. "What happened to your body? Did you leave it somehow?"

Shuhei stared at her is disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" he said, finally starting to lose his temper. "You can't play dumb with me." He stepped back into the gigai, much to Kaneko's shock.

"I really have no idea what you're talking about," she said, shaken.

The lieutenant sighed exasperatedly. "What, did you lose your memory?" he asked snidely, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

A thoughtful expression appeared on Kaneko's face. "I can't remember anything past fifty years ago. My first memory is of waking up in some sort of shop in Japan. There was a strange man there, who asked me if I was all right. I told him that I couldn't remember anything, and he told me that my name was Rin Nakano, and I was a spirit from the other side. I didn't believe him, of course, and I ran away from that place." She sighed. "Years later, I regretted not believing his words, because he was right. I don't think I'll ever find that town again."

Shuhei pondered this. He then walked over and sat down on a zabuton. Kaneko sat down across from him. "Well, according to the information gathered in the Soul Society, you first left it for the World of the Living about fifty years ago, which means you lost your memory at about the same time. That's probably not a coincidence," he mused.

Confusion twisting her features, Kaneko spoke up again. "If you don't mind me asking, what is the Soul Society?"

"It's the place where human souls go after they die."

"So, like heaven? Does that mean there's a hell too?"

"Yes. Those who lead wicked lives on Earth go to Hell instead. But about Soul Society, it's not exactly the same as the idea of heaven. For example, once souls die in the Soul Society, they are reincarnated as humans in the World of the Living, their memories wiped clean." Shuhei frowned. "It may be possible that you died in the Soul Society and something went wrong with the reincarnation, but that's never happened before. I think you just left the Soul Society as a shinigami, but when you came out on the other side of the senkaimon in the World of the Living, your memory was gone."

"I guess it's possible. So what's a shinigami?"

"In the Soul Society, souls with high spiritual energy can become shinigami. We are a race of beings with various powers that help us accomplish our duties. We monitor the number of souls that enter and leave the Soul Society, perform konsōs on souls that are stuck in the World of the Living, and exorcise hollows, which are corrupted souls who have deteriorated into monstrous forms, fueled by the hunger for fellow souls."

"So, you're saying I'm one of these superhuman death gods who kill giant monsters and wear black kimonos like the one you had on. Plus, I somehow mysteriously lost my memory and left this 'Soul Society' without permission, so you're here to arrest me for being a deserter, yet for some reason you guys couldn't find me for the past fifty years."

Shuhei nodded, pleased with the summary.

Kaneko stood up suddenly, grabbing the edge of the low table with both hands and flipping it into the air as she rose. "How do you expect me to believe that?"

Startled, Hisagi caught the table. "Well, it's the truth, so get over yourself!" he yelled, slamming the table down on the floor.

Once he saw Kaneko's face, he realized how unusual he was acting. Shuhei was well known to be the most mature lieutenant for his age, but something about this girl made him act much more recklessly. She was just so provoking.

He sighed. "Look, I know it's hard to believe, but I don't think you have a choice."

Kaneko's reaction reminded him of a disturbingly similar story Lieutenant Kuchiki had told him about when she met Ichigo Kurosaki, the substitute shinigami. If this girl was anything like Kurosaki, this mission was going to be anything but easy.

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><p><strong>AN: And so we reach the end of yet another installment of With You, I Know Not Fear.**

**So how did you like it? I really need the feedback. Plus, I think I deserve reviews for taking the time to write this instead of studying for my European History midterm tomorrow. So, either thank me for being so considerate or admonish me for not having my priorities in order!**

**Oh, and please include something about the fic... hehe.**

**So, please review! My self esteem could really use a boost! I know that this isn't exactly a mainstream fic, but I know that there's plenty of people out there who read but don't review. YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU! DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE!**

**Anywho, no pressure~! Just review, please~!**

**~Paradox**


	9. Crossing the Line

**Welcome back to another installment of With You, I Know Not Fear! Or as I refer to it, WYIKNF (kind of hard to say, but easier to type). I'll keep this part brief, as my dear mother (cough cough) is shrieking at me to get off the computer or else I'll get fat.**

**Thanks to metsfan101 for reviewing last chapter! It's always nice to hear from a reader. And it would be even nicer if more people would review, because I know that you're out there. I think that over 600 hits deserves more than just 10 reviews, but I won't complain too much. I'm just kind of hurt that my story isn't even worth you people giving me feedback.**

**Enough angst, on to the good stuff!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I am, however, the proud owner of an orchid. Too bad it died recently...**

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><p>It was too much. It was way too much.<p>

Everything that Rin was hearing from this strange man, Shuhei Hisagi, was overwhelming. It was destroying everything she thought she knew.

To find out that the world is not what you believed it to be can either be exciting, or it can be terrifying. Rin was experiencing a little of both, but she knew that those feelings would intensify as she learned more about "shinigami" and "Soul Society." Those words tugged on her mind, as if she had once knew them, and knew them well.

She fell back, collapsing to the ground. "I think I believe you, Shuhei Hisagi." She looked up at him, to that scarred face which had recently held rage but now held annoyance. "I'm just not sure I trust you."

Shuhei's face didn't change, as she could already tell that he didn't express his emotions much. But when he asked, "Is there a difference?" she could see a bit of hurt in his eyes.

"Of course there is," she replied crabbily.

"Does this mean you don't want to learn anything more? We've barely scratched the surface."

She looked away quickly, embarrassed and annoyed by this guy's obviously superior maturity. "I suppose," she said, trying to sound detached and calm. "Tell me about you… I mean, us shinigami." She had to start considering herself a shinigami, whether she wanted to or not.

Shuhei sat back down on the floor and put his forearms on the table. "The Soul Society consists of two main areas, the Rukongai, or Rukon District, where most souls live, and the Seireitei, the capital of the Soul Society where the shinigami, or soul reapers, dwell."

Rin scooted up onto the zabuton cushion across from Shuhei and leaned forward, her curiosity overcoming her fear. "Tell me more about the Seireitei," she ordered.

The scarred young man scowled. "First of all, you can't order me around. I'm a lieutenant, and you're not even a seated officer. There are thirteen squads of soul reapers, each led by a captain, who is the most powerful member of the division and is in charge of how the division is run."

"So, you're a lieutenant? Is that the second seat? Do the other seats have special names?"

"Yes, yes, and no. The rest are just referred to by number, like Third Seat and Fourth Seat. I'm in Squad Nine."

"Oh, really? What happens when a captain or other officer dies?"

"The spot is left open until someone of the proper strength earns it through testing. Three of the spots are open right now." Shuhei's voice sounded a bit more strained now, as if he was talking of something unpleasant.

"So, did they die?"

He looked away briefly. "The positions were empty because they were traitors," he said emotionlessly. "They betrayed the Soul Society and joined forces with the hollows."

"What were their names?"

"Sōsuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, and Kaname Tōsen. Aizen was their leader, and he used something called hōgyoku to make himself immortal and to turn hollows into humanoid beings called arrancar, with both hollow and shinigami-like abilities."

Those names sent a flicker of unease through Rin's thoughts. They sounded almost familiar. Her head spun as she saw dark, fuzzy images of three men, each wearing a black kimono and hakama like Shuhei, but with a white haori. Their faces were blurred.

The images made Rin's head hurt. "So," she said, "were they evil or what?"

"Aizen is," Shuhei said distastefully, "But not Ichimaru or Captain Tōsen. Ichimaru was actually on our side the whole time. He tried to kill Aizen, but lost his own life instead. As for Tōsen…"

Shuhei's eyes grew sorrowful, and Rin resisted the urge to reach out to him. "What about him?" she asked softly.

"He believed that joining Aizen would lead to the least bloodshed. That was his creed." Shuhei's voice became more irritated with each word. "Not to be loyal or do what was right, not to follow orders or help his friends. Just to avoid violence. He thought that Aizen would take over the Soul Society, and he decided that he would join the winning side." Shuhei's hand curled into a fist. "But he was wrong. Aizen was defeated, and so was Captain Tōsen. The difference between the two is that Aizen can't die, the bastard."

"Do you feel the same way as Tōsen did?" Rin asked abruptly.

Shuhei stared at her in alarm. "Did I give any indication that I did?" he replied.

"I don't know," she began, biting her lip. "It's just a vibe I'm picking up. You seem like the kind of guy who uses violence as a last resort." She smiled self-mockingly. "Unlike me. According to my friends, I'm a bit hotheaded."

Shuhei, now distracted, gave her a once-over. "By that, you mean that you hit people a lot," he deadpanned.

Rin blushed and leaned forward, smacking him on the top of his head. "Don't speak so bluntly," she complained.

"Well, it seems to be an accurate description."

"I don't like fighting," she said suddenly.

Shuhei frowned. "What do you mean? You just said otherwise."

Rin put her head in her hands. "Not the same thing. The kind of stuff I do is playful, like a friendly punch on the shoulder, you know? Not like serious fighting." She shivered. "I feel like if I fight someone for real, I might lose myself. I'm afraid of becoming a monster."

Shuhei's gaze softened, and he ruffled her black hair. "Fear is a good thing," he said gently. "Any shinigami who fights without fear of his sword is not a real fighter at all. Fear keeps our minds sharp, and it keeps us respectful and cautious." He leaned back. "At the same time, I don't support cowards. I think I was one once, but I think I've learned much since then." He met her eyes, a serious look on his face. "You have to know the difference between the two, or else you cannot fight. Those are my beliefs."

"Who taught you that?" Rin asked, slightly unnerved by his informal actions.

"My captain. Though now, it seems, he didn't really interpret it the way I did," Shuhei said bitterly.

"Really? That's too bad. So who's your captain?"

Shuhei's eyes hardened and the comfortable atmosphere between the two collapsed. He looked away, unable to make eye contact with Rin. She could tell that he at least had mixed feelings about his captain. From the tense way he held his body, she could see that something big had happened between the two for the worse. It was all visible in his clenched fists, his stiff posture, the taut muscles of his bare arms and neck, and the look of distress in his eyes wonderfully masked behind a pretense of indifference.

"Wait," Rin began, the realization dawning on her. "You said he 'didn't.' Did he…" Rin shook her head, not thinking it possible. Desperate for another solution, she asked, "Does that mean he changed his mind?" She winced at the obviousness of her doubt.

"My captain," Shuhei said coldly, "was Kaname Tōsen. One of the traitors."

Realizing she had crossed a forbidden boundary, Rin automatically reached out to take hold of his hand across to table, but hesitated when her fingers neared his. His expression was one she recognized, as she herself wore that face whenever her headaches plagued her. That being so, it was only natural for her to try to make a connection, though as her hand neared his, she remembered that this was someone else who obviously had gone through something more complicated and haunting than a migraine. She drew her hand back a bit at first, but with a sudden wave of determination, she grabbed his wrist, forcing him out of that curious state of inner torment.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

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><p>Shuhei jerked his head back and looked at Rei Kaneko, startled out of the feigned detachment. As he met her intense gaze, the coldness melted right out of his heart. Here he was, caught in a web of confusion, betrayal and fear, and this girl had been able to see through it.<p>

"What do you mean, you're sorry?" he asked curtly. There was no way he would show Rei– he meant the rogue, or at least Kaneko– that she had figured him out. Even so, he didn't think to remove his hand from hers.

She looked at him intently. "I mean that I'm sorry you trusted Tōsen and looked up to him. It seems like he was lying to you for the whole time you were his subordinate."

Shuhei recoiled slightly, taken aback by her frankness. "That's not a good way to comfort someone," he whined.

Kaneko laughed awkwardly, releasing some of the tension that had been building up. "It just seems like he really hurt you," she reasoned.

"You don't even know," he replied. "Not to mention the fact that I'm now stuck with all of his duties in addition to my own. The Ninth Division is not only the squad in charge of protecting the Seireitei, we also publish the Seireitei Bulletin."

Kaneko laughed again, more relaxed and genuinely this time. "Is that the shinigami's newspaper or something?"

"More like a magazine," Shuhei corrected. "I'm now the editor." He looked away. "It kind of sucks to be stuck with all the responsibility," he said meekly, "but everyone seems to think that I'm the one best for everything, that I'm reliable." He grew more annoyed, thinking about all the times he got stuck doing other's work, especially Matsumoto's. "Sometimes I just can't say no."

Kaneko smiled. "Well, then being here is kind of like being on vacation then!"

Shuhei returned her smile, then thought about the importance of what the female shinigami had just said. "Yeah," he said tentatively, "except for the fact that I'm on a mission, remember?"

The girl's smile was replaced by a confused frown. "Um… no."

Shuhei sighed and drew his hand away from hers, silently wondering why the hell they had been acting so intimate with each other. It was too easy to forget his job around her. "I came here to arrest you for treason," he said tiredly.

"Oh, right," she said absently, not really hearing what the lieutenant was saying. Then he saw her freeze.

"...Dammit."

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><p><strong>AN: Once again, I end with my OC cursing. I just find it a good place to cut the story off.**

**Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It focused more on the progress of Shuhei and Rin/Rei's friendship.**

**I kind of enjoyed writing the lecture Hisagi gave about the Soul Society.**

**Hey, I just thought of something! When (if, considering my ratio of reviews to hits) you review, include which squad you think Rin would belong to! I'm curious to know what your opinions are of her!**

**See you next week!**

**~Paradox**


	10. I'm Not Her, Yes We Are

**Wow! Chapter ten! To be honest, I wasn't sure if I would ever get this far! Thanks to AizheNi and TheBigPumkin for reviewing!**

**Just a general reminder for ALL readers, this IS a mystery story, so it's best to assume that every little detail is important.**

**As a celebration of this landmark (sort of), I made this chapter a bit longer. Actually, in my mind, it was supposed to go on much longer, as there's something fun that I'm hiding in this chappie. It will continue to next week. Virtual cookies (or other delicacies) to anyone who figures it out without any clues. I'll give you a hint in the next installment.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, but I think the first episode is free on iTunes!**

**Oops! Disclaimer II: I don't own iTunes, either. Shouldn't have mentioned it in the first place.**

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><p>Shuhei had never felt quite this guilty in his life. Just bluntly reminding Kaneko that she was under arrest seemed to really bother her, though she was doing a wonderful job of not showing it. She had just cursed casually, as if she had a pop quiz in school or something equally trivial, but Shuhei recognized that the girl wasn't just being ignorant; she was in denial. Kaneko didn't want to deal with something she didn't understand.<p>

Even so, Shuhei felt bad for reminding the other shinigami of her fate, after the two of them had been getting along well. It had to happen at some point, sooner rather than later. The lieutenant had a deadline, after all.

Hisagi looked up at the clock in the kitchenette. It was already almost 3 in the morning.

"Um, Kaneko?"

The female soul reaper raised an eyebrow. "Sorry," she replied crisply, "but I'm not used to answering to that name. What is it again?"

The Squad Nine lieutenant sighed. "Your name is Rei Kaneko. Rei, like the rays of the sun. Kaneko, as in kah-neko," he sounded out. "Like a cat," he added, meowing for emphasis. "Y'know, 'nyan nyan nyan'."

Kaneko snorted and began laughing hysterically, rolling off her cushion and onto the tatami floor. Apparently, whatever he had said was amusing, though he was just trying to be helpful.

The girl wiped a few tears of laughter out of her eyes and attempted to compose herself, breathing deeply. Sufficiently calm, she looked at him again. Shuhei detected a little bubble of mirth was about to rise to the surface again, so he asked her before she started laughing again. "Is there any particular reason why you found that so funny?"

Kaneko smiled. "There's just this really amusing video online of a digital cat with a poptart for a body that's rocketing through space leaving behind a trail of rainbow. The soundtrack is just this really high-pitched melody that only consists of 'nyan'." Her grin widened as he stared at her in disbelief. "Just hearing you say it reminded me of it."

Shuhei was speechless for another minute. "I can't believe the World of the Living is so ridiculous," he managed.

Kaneko rolled her eyes. "I know, right? Well, that video reminds me a lot of Felicia. She loves cats, and she only eats poptarts for breakfast." She shuddered. "I don't know how she does it. I wouldn't have seen the video in the first place if it hadn't been for Amelia and Carly," she said softly, now clearly talking to herself.

Shuhei snapped in front of her face a few times, grabbing her attention. "Way off topic," he said. "Let's talk more about you and what the Soul Society knows about you."

The shinigami's eyes lit up with excitement. "Ooh! I can't help but be curious! I mean, judging from my rate of aging, I can't remember over half my life!"

Shuhei calmly gave the girl a once-over. "It seems like you're about my age, so that's a reasonable guess."

"Which squad was I in? Who was my captain? Was I popular? Was I powerful?" Kaneko rattled off the questions, not pausing for breath in between.

Shuhei scratched the back of his neck. "Actually," he began, "we have no idea which squad you were in. You're not in any of the records, no one remembers you, not even the captains, yet you appear to be everywhere and nowhere. There's only one picture out there in which we are sure it's you." He tried to hand her the photograph that he'd been carrying as reference for finding her, but he realized it wasn't with his gigai, but his shinigami form. "There are a few other pictures of people who resemble you, but never with the same people. Please excuse me while I leave my gigai to find you the photo."

"Okay, no problem," she replied absently, once again not paying full attention.

Sighing, Shuhei stood up, motioning for her to watch. Trying to make it as dramatic as possible, he gestured to the silver ring on his hand and punched himself in the face, knocking his spirit out and causing the body to collapse.

The lieutenant heard the girl let out a subconscious gasp of shock.

"This ring," said Hisagi, enjoying his moment of awesome, "allows me to separate my soul, which is our true form, from my gigai, which is a fake body for shinigami that need to disguise themselves as humans." Now decked out in his familiar black kimono and hakama, Shuhei took his seat again. "You're in one now," he stated briefly.

Kaneko looked like she had just lost something important. "It shouldn't be a surprise," she said shakily, "but at the same time I didn't want to accept it. This means that nothing I've felt for the past fifty years has been real." Shuhei noticed that her fists clenched tighter as she spoke. "I have no memories of what it's like to be in my true form. My whole life is a lie."

"Whoa there!" Shuhei exclaimed, holding his hands up. "Just because your gigai is a body made by scientific research instead of spiritual energy, that doesn't mean that it isn't real." He smiled encouragingly. "In fact, having a gigai means experiencing things that you wouldn't be able to do otherwise."

Kaneko nodded slowly, but she didn't seem completely convinced. "Even so, nothing that I've believed in for my time here in the World of the Living has been what I thought it was." She stared at him, a determined look in her eyes. "You want me to cooperate? Well, that will have to go both ways. Love it or leave it."

"I don't follow."

"You can't understand." The words sounded bitter, but Shuhei was beginning to understand that this girl was carrying a large burden on her shoulders. "I've got a proposition for you," she decided. "Give me a reason to believe."

* * *

><p>Rin was satisfied with her little speech, but Shuhei still looked a bit mystified. She sighed. "I mean, give me some proof of my existence," she said, trying to mask her unease. This was going to be hard for her. Really hard.<p>

"Well, first of all, here's that picture of you." Shuhei handed her a picture of a girl and a boy, both teenagers, dressed similarly to Shuhei. There were five or so other shinigami in the background, but Rin focused on the two. They wore the same outfit as Shuhei, but with sleeves and without the badge on the arm. "I've been meaning to ask you," she said, random thoughts distracting her train of thought. "What is that badge for?"

"What, this? It's my lieutenant badge. As a lieutenant, I wear this on my sleeve. Well, I don't have a sleeve, but you get the idea. This is for the Ninth Division. Our insignia is the poppy."

"Oblivion," Rin found herself murmuring quietly.

The lieutenant looked at her. "What did you say?" he asked.

"Um…" Rin's mind raced. "Are all of the insignias flowers?"

"Yup. And they each signify something that can somehow be associated with the division, though nobody takes it seriously. The poppy represents oblivion."

_Sacrifice_. The word popped into her mind all of a sudden. She looked back at the picture, trying to rid her brain of these weird things. The boy and girl shinigami were laughing, and it looked like the guy had his arm around the girl's waist. He was tall, with a mop of dark brown hair. Very cute. She looked at the girl. Plain black hair. Pale skin. Average height. Kind of pretty, in a normal sort of way. Forgettable.

_Pure love_, a voice whispered in the back of her head. She ignored it.

"That's you, about sixty years ago," said Shuhei.

"No way! That can't be me!"

"Well, you've changed a lot. You've gotten older and your facial features have shifted a bit as a result. It seems like you hit a growth spurt, too."

Rin thought about that for a minute. "I guess, but that's not what I was talking about. I had a boyfriend? A cute one? There's no way I wouldn't remember! I haven't had a single one in the past fifty years! Then again, that's kind of my fault."

"Okay, then. Anyway, we managed to identify the other soul reaper in the picture, at least. His name was Takashi Segawa. He was a member of Squad Five."

_Danger_. The voice was back briefly, saying this one word. Then it was gone.

"He was? As in, he was in Squad Five at the time, then transferred?"

"He died."

Out of nowhere, Rin was hit by a crushing sadness, if she had been standing, she would have been forced to her knees. The pain was incredible. This time, it came not just from her mind, but also from her scar. That old X-shaped scar on her chest that she had to cover with makeup once a day, hiding the ugly mark. Right now, it seemed like it was an opening for her heart to escape to the outside world, pouring out emotion that she didn't recognize. All of this from two words. But what powerful words they were.

Shuhei had a look of horror and guilt on his face. "I'm so sorry, Rei," he said, eyes wide. "I hadn't realized it would affect you, considering you didn't even remember his name."

She looked up at him. "I'm not crying, am I?" she asked slowly.

"No."

"Then I'm not sad. It wasn't me that was reacting. It was probably just some reflex from before… y'know."

"Are you sure that you're okay?" he asked skeptically.

Rin was breathing hard, her hand over her disguised scar. "I'm fine," she panted.

"You have a lot of spiritual energy coming from that mark on your chest."

She looked up at the young man in astonishment. "You can see it?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Well, to anyone else it would look like plain skin, but as a shinigami I can feel the reiatsu pouring out from it. It's in the shape of an X, right?"

Rin nodded. "So, how long were you following me around before you finally talked to me?" she asked, trying to change the subject. "For some reason, when you spoke to me for the first time, I felt like I had seen you before."

Shuhei looked uncomfortable. "Well, just a day, actually. And you did see me. You and that friend of yours were leaving a building and you saw me in this form."

Rin racked her brain, but she couldn't remember the incident. "That's weird. I haven't forgotten anything for fifty years, and you'd think I would recall something like this."

"Actually," Shuhei began, "that's my fault. I gave you and your friend replacement memories because you were freaking out in public."

Annoyance flickered through Rin. "Well, that was kind of rude, erasing part of our memories. I don't suppose you could give them back."

A thoughtful look flashed over the lieutenant's face. "I might be able to, but it will be a total experiment." He stood up. "You might want to cleanse yourself first so we don't have any outside influence."

"Like, body, mind, and spirit?" she guessed.

"That seems about right. I'm going to do a bit of research in the meantime to make sure we don't take any unnecessary risks."

Rin stood up and walked to the bathroom, not sure what to do.

* * *

><p>Hisagi sighed and began to root around for his kikanshinki. Finally closing his hand around the memory modifier, he thought back to every kidō spell that might help. A healing spell would probably be best, he decided.<p>

He walked into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. This experiment would be quite taxing, and he was sure that Kaneko would be more comfortable here than on the floor.

The sound of running water from the bathroom finally stopped and few minutes later, Kaneko walked in with a different outfit. Her makeup from before was replaced with some that was rather different, and her hair was all black, missing the streaks of neon green. She had put on black lipstick, mascara, and eyeshadow, making her face look even paler. Her scar, a distinct black X above the neckline of her dress, was visible. The lines were quite smooth, making it look more like a tattoo than a scar. She had also changes some of her earrings, and Shuhei counted six piercings on her right ear and four on the left. A silver piece that went through end of her right eyebrow caught the light.

She was wearing some gothic lolita dress, all black with a corset-like bodice and a tiered skirt with the edges ripped. A black ribbon was tied around her neck, and she wore a pair of black lace fingerless gloves. The outfit was completed by fishnets and a black pair of combat boots. Under the fishnets on her left leg, Shuhei saw a tribal design tattooed into her skin, spiraling around her leg like a sinister vine covered in thorns.

Shuhei stared at her. "Where'd you get those clothes?" he asked, his voice strained.

Kaneko dimpled. "This hotel room is like my second home. Both Felicia and I have changes of clothes here, and we've spent the night here a lot."

The lieutenant was shocked. "But isn't this a guy's room?" he asked incredulously. "Wait, not just any guy. He's your boss!"

The girl rolled her silvery eyes. "Yeah, Derek's my boss, but he's also one of my best friends," she said. "I've known him almost as long as I've known 'Licia."

"So he's okay with you girls practically living here?"

"Well, he always grumbles about it, but he's never kicked us out. He's a pretty cool guy."

Shuhei thought back to when he had walked into the club, Fortune's Favor. That young man with blond hair had some reiatsu. That was important. "Does he have any shinigami-like abilities?" he asked.

Kaneko frowned. "Well, Derek, Felicia, and I all can perform kidō. I can do higher level spells than they can, but I get tired a lot faster than they do. Derek can only use the defensive spells. The book of kidō calls them bakudō. Felicia, on the other hand, can only use the offense spells. Hadō."

"That's very interesting," mused the male shinigami. "I'll have to include that in the next report. It's possible that they developed their abilities from being constantly around someone with high reiatsu, like Kurosaki's friends."

"Who's Kurosaki?"

"There's this guy, Ichigo Kurosaki, who is a substitute shinigami. That means he's a human who became a soul reaper. His friends developed their own abilities, but they were unique instead of the same as those of a shinigami."

"Uh, okay. Is that normal?"

"Not at all," he deadpanned. Kaneko was starting to look confused now, so Hisagi decided not to pursue that particular subject any more. "Do any of your other friends have supernatural abilities?"

"Well, everyone in the boardinghouse can see spirits– I mean souls. Most of them can't feel their presence, but Felicia, Amelia, and Carly can. Carly can talk to souls, too. She's no use in a fight, but she helps calm down souls that are stuck here. Tristan is even better at masking his presence than Derek, who can do it in juncture with kidō. Amelia can move really quickly, like me. I have to remind her not to use it too often, because she's a soccer goalie."

"She can use hohō?"

"Not sure what that means, but she's pretty good at it."

Shuhei proceeded to explain to her the practice of hohō, more specifically flash step, along with hakuda and zanjutsu.

The girl's eyes grew wider with every new fact. "It sounds like hakuda is my kind of thing. But about the zanpaku-tō… Their individuality is born from our own souls, and they give the blade its unique characteristics? That's amazing."

"It is indeed," replied the lieutenant, thinking of Kazeshini. "Even though they are a part of us, however, we don't have to like them."

"Do you think you could fix my memory now? I want to see a shinigami in action."

Shuhei's stomach fluttered. "Okay," he said nervously. He held up the memory modifier. "This is a kikanshinki. Soul reapers use them to replace human memories so they don't remember anything strange happening. I am going to use a reversal spell on it, which will hopefully bring back the memories it took away. At the same time, I'll use a healing spell on your mind to see if that will help recover anything."

"Um… okay then. Let's get started."

"This could be dangerous," he warned. "There's a good chance nothing will happen, and an equal chance that something bad would happen if I messed up."

Kaneko stared directly into his eyes. "Then don't mess up," she said simply.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry this went up so late! I was going to post it 4 hours ago. And now the website's not working, so the chapter probably got messed up.**

**I hate technology.**

**Review, review, review! By the way, I have a list of all the people who have this story on alert, and some of you never reviewed. Tsk tsk.**

**See you next week!**

**~Paradox**


	11. Send Me to Oblivion

**Chapter 11, here we go~**

**TheBigPumkin and AizheNi, you guys are awesome. Reviewers are my favorite people in the world.**

**Just something for all you readers, I'm continuing that Easter egg thing that I bet none of you will figure out. It will conclude in the next chapter or two. This week's hint: all are related to the same thing. Good luck!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I have a lot of the theme songs from the anime on my iPod, though. There's so many!**

* * *

><p>Rin bounced on the bed nervously. This was going to be a strange experience. What if something went wrong? This was insane.<p>

Something Shuhei had said earlier resurfaced in her mind. "Hey, did you say you were going to use _healing_ kidō? I thought there was just hadō and bakudō."

The scarred young man shook his head. "It's still kidō, but it's kind of different in the way it works. No chants are required. You just learn it."

"Aha! No wonder it wasn't in my book!"

Shuhei looked sharply at her. "What book?" he asked.

"My book of kidō. It was in my jacket pocket when I first woke up fifty years ago. It's actually two volumes bound together. They're both about a hundred pages, with each page devoted to the next spell." Rin realized that she had started rambling again. "Let's get back on task," she said decisively.

The male shinigami nodded and crossed his legs on top of the bed. "This may hurt," he warned. "Close your eyes and calm your mind."

Rin complied and shifted into a meditative position, ignoring the fact that the skirt of her dress was riding up her legs uncomfortably. She took slow, deep breaths and emptied her mind of all thoughts. _Oblivion_, her mind whispered. _Send me to oblivion_.

She felt Shuhei's fingers press gently to her temples. His hands felt calloused, which made sense for someone who handled swords. Despite what he had said, Rin could hear him muttering in Japanese. Maybe he was using a bakudō spell, too.

Annoyed at her self for losing concentration, Rin forced herself to relax. "Send me to oblivion," she said involuntarily, her voice sounding strange and breathy.

Shuhei hushed her, and her head grew warm. Fuzzy pictures floated through her mind, unfamiliar images that came from a different world. Hollows. Shinigami. Something… else.

Suddenly, a memory crashed into her head at warp speed. She was leaving the house with Felicia, and suddenly, Shuhei came down from above, his landing sending a miniature shockwave through the pavement. He was in the black kimono, just like now. A woman, dressed in some sort of vaudeville attire and a skeleton mask, walking straight towards him, unaware of the soul reaper's presence.

Shuhei lifted up a katana, gleaming in the neon lights. He brought it down on the woman's head, passing through as if it wasn't there at all. Rin could hear her memory-self screaming, but it was as if she was very far away…

Wait a second…

"Um, Shuhei?" she asked, her eyes still closed.

"Yeah?"

"Earlier today, did you… attack a human?"

Shuhei's voice sounded guarded and suspicious. "What do you mean?" A look of realization dawned on him. "Oh, _crap_," he moaned. "Damn, I forgot!"

Now sufficiently interested, Rin replayed the memory over in her head. The mask. The woman looked kind of like a hollow.

"Pffffffffffffffffffft." The strange sound escaped Rin's lips, and then she snorted, trying to keep her laughter contained.

She failed.

"Bwahahahahaha! You're an idiot!" she exclaimed, clutching her sides as she laughed hysterically. "I can't believe you mistook a human for a freaking hollow! Even I'm not that dumb, and I didn't even know they were called hollows until today!"

At that point, Rin had opened her eyes. Through her tears of laughter, she could see Shuhei scowling deeply.

"This is _exactly_ why I removed the memory! You'd better not tell anyone!" he yelled.

Rin shook her head, still giggling. "F-f-fine. But you owe me." She calmed down a bit. "It looks like you're running after something that you'll never kill. At least not in that form."

Shuhei rolled his eyes. "Just like this conversation. Once again, we're getting nowhere. We need to complete the experiment now, so eyes open wide." He held up the kikanshinki, which looked a bit different now. He must have altered it so it would help restore instead of replace memories.

With a flash and a dorky noise, the memory modifier went off in her face.

That was when memories really started to return.

She was in the shinigami uniform, running through an alley in what she could only assume was the Seireitei, judging by Shuhei's description. Then it was gone.

Numerous hollows with their monstrous, skeletal faces. Then they died, leaving her mind blank again.

Other soul reapers, surrounding her and laughing. One in particular was standing right behind her, leaning over and whispering in her ear, his dark brown hair tickling her neck. The sensation and image slipped away like the others.

Lying in a bunk in some sort of barracks. Standing on a grassy precipice with one flowering plant growing right on the edge. It had one long stem with little, bell-shaped white flowers drooping down, facing the ground. A tall man was standing next to it. "_Careful_," the memory of the man said in that faraway voice. Rin could tell that he had said it with warmth then, but it was too distant now. He was facing the cliff, away from her. He continued his warning. "_That flower may be beautiful, but you can't touch it. It's poisonous_." The man and the precipice disappeared into mist.

The younger shinigami with the mop of brown hair was back. He hugged her tightly and lifted her into the air. "_Hey, Rei,_" he greeted, laughing and setting her down. "_Did you transfer yet_?"

Rin felt herself smile. "_It's not that hard_," her memory-self replied. "_I've got the technique down now. Nobody will ever catch me._"

The boy smirked and ruffled her hair. "_Unless I turn you in_," he teased.

Takashi Segawa. This was her boyfriend.

He disappeared, leaving her alone once again.

Rin was back in room 666. Her eyes flew open in shock and she stared, wide-eyed, at Shuhei, who was wearing a similar expression. Ugh, the pain was back. Her head was throbbing again and her scar had a pulsing ache.

"I think this experiment worked a little too well," she said weakly.

* * *

><p>That was one of the oddest things Shuhei Hisagi had ever done. Kaneko looked perfectly calm, but he could feel pain radiating off her scar. Wow, she was tough.<p>

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, embarrassed by how concerned he sounded.

Kaneko glared at him, pure fury in her eyes. "I'm fine," she said icily. "Do I look like I'm about to have a panic attack or something?"

This was new. Did Kaneko always get angry this easily? It was kind of scary.

"No," he muttered, sliding off the bed. "Your scar is giving off a strange reiatsu, that's all. It's different from your own."

She laughed darkly. "What, are you saying I have multiple personalities? That I'm a psycho or a schizo or something. It's not a mark or a scar that makes you one."

"I'm going to get back in my gigai," he said over his shoulder, afraid to look back at the rogue girl.

He walked into the living room and picked up his gigai, fusing his soul into the fake body once again.

As he stood up, the soul reaper heard the sound of the door to the hallway opening. Shuhei snapped his head and looked for the source of the sound, alert for any situation.

There was a young woman, a few years older than Kaneko and he appeared to be. Somewhere in her late twenties. She was tall, but not as tall as Kaneko. Her skin was tanned and her hair bleached platinum blonde. She was wearing a clingy, bright pink cocktail dress and was carrying a pair of matching stilettos in her hand. She stared at him.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked bluntly.

"I could ask you the same thing," she replied, stepping into the room. She gazed at him for another few seconds, her eyes moving up and down his body. A catlike smile crept onto her lipsticked mouth. "Are you a friend of Derek's?" she asked, batting her heavy eyelashes.

Before Shuhei could manage a response, he heard Kaneko from the bedroom. "Shuhei? Is someone here?" came the female shinigami's voice.

The blonde's eyes narrowed and she dropped her high heels on the floor.

Kaneko emerged from the bedroom, fixing one of her black fingerless gloves. She glared at the other girl. "Kayla," she said coldly.

"Rin," Kayla replied with equal frostiness. "I see that you still dress like Tim Burton's muse. Is that a new piece of metal impaling your ear?"

Kaneko wrinkled her nose and walked to Shuhei's side. "You make me ill," she said succinctly. "Shuhei, meet Kayla. She's Derek's whore– I mean girlfriend. At least, she is for now. Until he figures out what a skank she is."

"What, jealous? I'm sorry that you can never get a boyfriend." Kayla motioned for Rin to walk up to her. "Give me your hopeless little heart. Maybe my beauty and romantic success will rub off on you. You're already mostly a lost case, though."

Kaneko growled and grabbed Shuhei's arm. "I'm not in a good mood," the girl hissed, "So I suggest you back off. Otherwise, I'll rip your nice, manicured nails out of your fingers and use them to scratch out your pretty blue eyes. Then, I'll use your razor to cut out your spiteful little tongue that can't stop talking and put it in Derek's food processor. Then I'll use the razor to cut off all of your fake blonde hair and stuff it down your throat. And then you die."

The blonde stared at Kaneko, her eyes wide with horror. "You're insane," she said her voice a mixture of disgust and alarm. "I have no idea why Derek hired a bitchy freak like you. Get out."

Kaneko snorted. "This room is more of my home than yours. I thought you lived in one of those whorehouses. Shuhei and I were here on important business. Isn't that right, Shu-kun?" she asked, her grip tightening on his arm.

Shuhei, shocked into silence by her detailed threat, recovered his composure. "I guess you could say that," he said. He paused, then glared at Kaneko. "And _don't_ call me Shu-kun. Do you have no sense of respect whatsoever?"

The dark-haired girl pouted. "Fine. Tell me, what do you think of Kayla?"

Knowing this was a test of loyalty, Shuhei framed his answer carefully. "Pretty face…" he began, causing Rei to glower and Kayla to smirk. He turned towards the blonde.

"But you do _so_ carry on," he finished, successfully sounding much more superior.

Kaneko snickered. "Wow, that was mature. You gotta teach me how you do that."

Suddenly, the door slammed open again. The petite woman with long reddish brown hair stormed inside. Felicia was her name.

"Hey, Rin," she said tersely, not noticing anyone in the hotel room. "I just saw Kayla a few minutes ago. If she asks, I'm not–"

"Hello, Felicia," said Kayla, walking right up to her and towering over the small brunette.

"Oh, it's Derek's tumor. What's up, bitch?"

Kayla waved her tanned hand dismissively. "Oh, please. We all know you never had a chance, so stop chasing after my boyfriend."

Felicia looked surprised. Then she burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me? Of _course_ I never had a chance with that big idiot! I never wanted him in the first place!"

Kaneko joined in. "Some competition you got there, Kayla. Stop getting so jealous about your boy toy's friends when we can all tell that you have plenty of," she paused for emphasis. "_Gentlemen_ friends. Did you have another sleepover at Ryan's?"

Kayla lost it, shrieking in fury and clawing at Kaneko, who calmly deflected the blonde's attacks. She chuckled and pushed the pink-clad girl away, then looked over her shoulder at Felicia. "Well that was fun," she called.

Time slowed. Shuhei saw Kayla begin to wind her arm back for a slap that Rei wouldn't see coming. He made a snap decision and flash stepped over, catching Kayla's wrist and twisting it a little.

The blonde stared at him in disbelief. "Let me go," she squeaked.

Shuhei complied and nudged the malicious girl out of the way. He looked at Rei. "Was that okay, or was I not supposed to interrupt?" he asked, his voice unruffled and his expression blank.

The female shinigami smirked. "I'll let you get away with it this time," she decided. "A slap might've ruined my makeup. Oh, and I probably would have killed the dear little slut." She smiled more sincerely this time. "Thanks, Shu-kun."

"Don't call me that."

* * *

><p>Today was a pretty interesting day for Rin. And even though Shuhei was here to arrest her, he wasn't showing any aversion to defending her. How cool.<p>

Plus, it was Kayla that he went all badass-death-god-guy on. Bonus points.

Speaking of that ho, she was glaring at Felicia. "You people, get out of here now. I'll call the casino's security," she threatened.

"You'll never make me leave!" shouted Rin and Felicia in perfect synchronization.

Kayla huffed and walked to the door. "Well, I've got to go now. Can't entertain you losers forever. I've got somewhere to be, and unlike your choice locations, it's not a bar."

"Then it must be Brandon's bed," Felicia offered. "Unless you stopped sleeping with him. Then it's probably Austin's."

Without a retort, Kayla walked out and slammed the door.

Felicia looked at her best friend. "Now that that's over with," she began, "Would you please introduce me to your new friend?"

"This is Shuhei Hisagi. He's a shinigami, like me, apparently. We're a race of spiritual beings who guide souls up to Soul Society and kill corrupt souls, which are called hollows. They're scary looking monster thingies. Oh, and we each have a special sword that is actually part of our soul and has unique abilities. Shuhei's the lieutenant of Squad Nine, which means he's a pretty kickass fighter."

Felicia nodded slowly. "And…?" she asked.

"And we're dead."

"Ah. Okay, then. Makes sense. So why do you have a body?"

"Because the smart shinigami scientists invented these things called gigai that morph into the appearance of the soul who inhabits it."

"Fun! Should I get Derek and fill him in?"

Wow, Felicia was taking this well. Then again, she was pretty open-minded.

"Sure," Rin replied. "On second thought, get him and hail the four of us a cab. Shuhei needs to meet our housemates."

Felicia grinned evilly. "Heeheehee!" she giggled. "It's not even dawn, and this day just keeps getting better and better!"

Rin glanced at Shuhei and remembered something important. "Hey, 'Licia," she called.

"Yeah?"

"Shuhei came here to arrest me for treason. I'm a deserter."

"Lucky!"

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><p><strong>AN: Another week, another chapter. I'm really curious to find out if you guys actually enjoyed this installment, considering I was spitting mad while writing it. Kayla irks me.**

**I know she's kind of a pointless character, but as long as I'm making OC's, might as well throw in a bitchy one. Ugh, she's so icky.**

**Review, review, review! If you do, I might give you a hint about my first plot twist, which you all will see in the next week or so! I'm not sure how huge it is, but I'm determined to incorporate it now, no matter how shocking or random.**

**I hope the excitement doesn't keep you awake at night.**

**Who am I kidding? My stuff isn't that great…**

…**And here I go again with the self-inflicted misery.**

**Depression hurts. Reviews can help.**

**~Paradox**


	12. You Live With These People?

**Chapter Twelve, people! Guess what? I've gotten over a thousand hits! Woohoo!**

**As usual, many thanks to AizheNi and TheGreatPumkin for reviewing, even though you guys are always the only two. Cough cough REVIEW PEOPLE cough.**

**Well, here's what you guys have been waiting for! Sorry it's up so late, I had to go to my little sister's last soccer game and her team party and I lost about four hours worth of writing time! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, but I'm glad that I put disclaimers up because of that weird bill in the US about censoring the internet. We'll see how that turns out.**

* * *

><p>Shuhei stared in disbelief at the girl named Felicia.<p>

What kind of stuff had she been through to be able to take all this new information in stride? It was kind of scary.

The petite woman frowned. "Eww," she said. "Kayla left her ugly shoes here."

"Throw them out the window," Kaneko suggested.

Felicia grinned and picked up the pink stilettos. "Yes, ma'am!" she said brightly. She bounded over to the window and cranked it open. With an evil cackle, she flung the shoes out the window gleefully.

Sheesh.

"Umm, we didn't quite finish our introductions," reminded Shuhei.

"Oh, yeah," Kaneko said absently. "Shuhei, this is Felicia Carelli, my roommate and my best friend. We met about ten years ago when she dropped out of high school and ran away from home. She moved in and managed to get a job as a costume designer."

The small brunette skipped past him to the door. "Yup! But my dream is to design cosplay and open up _actual stores_ so people don't have to order it online. I'll have one here, Tokyo, New York, San Francisco…"

Kaneko chuckled and followed her. "Shuhei and I will go to the front entrance. Can you go grab Derek now?"

She nodded, opened the door, and shot off down the hallway.

Kaneko motioned to Shuhei and began walking down the hall in the opposite direction. He closed the door behind him and caught up to her.

"Hey, Shuhei?" she asked. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Only if you start giving me the respect I deserve."

"Damn you. What do you want me to call you?"

"Lieutenant Hisagi would suffice."

"But that's so formal," she complained.

"Well, what favor did you want, anyway?"

She glanced up at him. "I was hoping you could restore Felicia's memory of yesterday. It's unfair of you to take that away from her."

Shuhei kept walking, thinking over what the rogue had said. "…No," he said bluntly.

He felt a hard slap on the back of his head. He glared at Kaneko, who glared right back.

"Why not?" she whined.

"Because what happened then is now between you and me. You're taking that secret to your grave."

"Which is a relative thing, considering we're already dead," she replied. Her eyes lit up with mischief. "Oh, I see," she said. "Don't worry, no one else will ever know what an idiot you can be."

Hisagi scowled at the other shinigami and walked over to an elevator, pushing the down button. "Fine," he grumbled.

The elevator door opened and he followed Kaneko in. "You know what that means?" she asked suddenly as they descended. "I don't have to call you lieutenant!"

"That's not optional."

* * *

><p>Rin led Shuhei through the grounds of the resort to the front entrance, standing on the sidewalk while cars taxied around, picking up and dropping off a variety of people.<p>

"There's Derek," said Rin. She could see his blond head from far away. And that meant…

"Ooh! Felicia's right behind him!" she exclaimed. In fact, her petite roommate was chasing the taller man along the pathway from the bar. Derek was pulling ahead, and he reached the sidewalk first. Felicia caught up soon, breathing heavily.

"Felicia filled me in," panted Derek. "And I'm sorry about Kayla," he added.

"Now you are," gasped Felicia. "I had to chase you all the way over here!"

Rin snorted and scanned the streets for a cab. She hailed it and they all piled in. She gave him the address of their house and off they went.

Soon, the four were piling out of the taxi and standing in front of a tall, derelict-looking building. "Home sweet home," she said cheerfully.

Derek paid the cabbie and Felicia knocked on the front door. "It's Felicia and friends," she hollered.

Ten seconds later, a tall blonde girl opened the door. "About time you came home," said Nadya. She focused her gray-green eyes on Rin. "Mai has your meds, Rin-chan."

Rin smiled and walked up to the Russian girl. "Thanks," she said, holding the door for the rest of the people outside. Once everyone was indoors, Shuhei turned to her. "Why did she use a Japanese honorific?" he asked quietly.

"One week out of every month is a Heritage Week. We choose one house member's country of origin and spend the week participating in parts of their culture. This one such week, and it's for me this time, so we're doing Japan."

"Oh, and the last day of Heritage Week is called Binge Night, when we all get drunk on whatever alcoholic drink is popular in that country. Whoever stays sober longest wins. Hi, I'm Mai."

Rin looked down the front corridor of their house and saw the small, bespectacled girl. "Hey, Mai-chan," she said happily. "Give me all your pills, please."

The waifish girl held up a small container and waved it around. "Oh, please choose me, Rin-sama!" she said in a high voice, imitating the pills. "I'm just the way that the doctor made me!" She frowned, reverting to her normal voice. "Well, who knows who makes them. The bucket hat man wasn't there this time. It was just that girl with pigtails. But she started wearing her hair down! It makes her look so much older!"

Rin groaned. "Just give me what I need, already."

Mai rolled her eyes and tossed her the bottle. Rin opened it and popped a pill in her mouth. "Thanks, Mai-chan," she said.

"So, who's that guy?" asked Nadya. She liked to cut to the chase.

"Shuhei Hisagi. He's like me. I'll explain everything later once we can call a house meeting, okay?"

Nadya nodded and turned away, walking through the twisting hallway and going up a set of stairs, probably to alert anyone she saw.

Felicia started down a different hallway that led to the den. "I see Leah-chan," the auburn-haired girl proclaimed.

Sure enough, a dark skinned girl was walking right towards them. The young woman was braiding her long brown hair. "I see we have a visitor," she said. "My name is Leah Carson, and I own this house." She held out her hand and shook Shuhei's. Rin noticed that he had started to bow out of habit. Heh, Japanese manners.

Leah frowned. "Nick and Gerard were right behind me a second ago. I hope they didn't get lost," she said worriedly.

"Don't panic," came Nick's voice from down the hall. "We're right here."

Rin jumped around Leah and raced down the corridor. "'Sup, Nick," she said, holding out her hand.

The brown haired boy stared at her blankly with his hazel eyes. "What are you doing?"

Rin glared at him. "Bro hug, dude!" she whispered. "I'm trying to look cool here!"

Nick sighed and grasped her hand, jerking her towards him as they simultaneously clapped each other on the back. They both grunted involuntarily.

Gerard stepped out from behind Nick and waved at Rin, smiling shyly. "Hey, Gerard," she said, returning the smile. She looked back at Nick. "Where's your girlfriend?"

"With Phoebe and Michael in the den."

"Perfect! Let's go!" said Felicia, grabbing Derek's arm and bolting through the hallway.

Rin waited for Shuhei and started walking again. He looked down at her. "How many people do you live with?" he asked.

"Eleven of us adults. That way we each get one Heritage Week a year." She paused for a second, debating whether to tell him anything else. He probably wouldn't meet those four; it was too early for that, right?

She shook her head in exhaustion and walked silently to the den, which was surprisingly clean. The carpet was a nice green that went well with the dark walls. The couches and chairs were all facing the large TV, none of them covered in clothing items, books, or magazines. The mini bar's counter was clean, too. There were already three people sitting on stools in front of it.

"Nice to see you again, Rin-chan," called Delaney. "I was wondering what happened to you and Felicia."

"Did you get your meds?" asked Phoebe.

Rin nodded and hopped over the counter. "I'm assuming you all want drinks," she said. "Pick your poison."

"Gimme _all_ your poison," said Felicia, sitting on the stool next to Michael. The red haired boy chuckled.

"I didn't think you could hold much alcohol in that little body of yours," he said lightly.

Phoebe smacked her brother on the arm. "You got something against short people, Bro?" she accused.

He smiled at her. " It's 'Nii-san'," he corrected. "We're in the middle of a Heritage Week right now."

Phoebe flipped her short, carrot-colored hair over her shoulder. "Who's next?" she asked. "Your boyfriend?"

Michael nodded. "He doesn't seem very excited about it, though."

"I'm not either," said Delaney. "I don't like tequila, so that Binge Night's gonna be a bitch."

"Speaking of drinking," said Rin, "Are you guys going to order anything or not?"

"It's five in the morning!" exclaimed Leah. "You people disgust me."

Rin rolled her eyes. "I know you think of yourself as our mother because you're, like, thirty," she said, "But Shuhei and I have you beat by at least a hundred years."

All of the humans turned towards the male shinigami, who had seated himself quietly on a couch. He gave her a dirty look, and Rin could practically hear his thoughts. _Thanks for calling attention to me, you jerk_, he would say. She snickered and winked at him.

"A virgin Bloody Mary for each of you," she decided. As she was preparing the drinks, another migraine hit her.

It was no less painful than usual, despite what she told her friends. They believed her pills were painkillers, but they actually didn't lessen the pain at all. Instead, they gave her the strength to ride it out and hide it from her housemates. It was actually better to have the migraine and tough it out, because it was one of the only times when she ever _saw_ things.

Right now, she caught a glimpse of a smiling man with square, black glasses. It was much better quality than anything she had ever seen before in this manner. Maybe Shuhei's kidō experiment was still affecting her.

Still maintaining the smiling mask, she set down red drinks in front of Derek, Felicia, Mai, Nick, Delaney, and Phoebe. Leah, Gerard, and Michael all shook their heads.

She squeezed out from behind the counter and walked over to Shuhei. "Do you want one?" she asked.

The dark haired man started to decline her offer when he did a double take. "Are you okay?" he asked lowly, concern obvious in his voice.

Crap. He could tell that she got another headache. "What?" she asked, widening her fake smile. "No, I'm fine."

He cocked an eyebrow. "You're a fantastic liar, but I can feel your reiatsu fluctuating." He looked down at her scar pointedly. "It's like it has its own spiritual pressure."

Rin was about to reply when she heard a _whoosh_, and she was suddenly on the floor, the wind knocked out of her.

* * *

><p>The Squad Nine lieutenant blinked in shock at the girl with curly brown hair streaked with purple. She was curvy and on the short side, and clearly a practitioner of karate.<p>

She laughed and stood triumphantly behind the collapsed form of Kaneko. "What's life like, bleeding on the floor?" she asked.

"Alison," grumbled the female soul reaper.

The girl named Alison shook her head. "You should start calling me sensei if your skills are getting that bad," she said. "I thought a little surprise attack might inspire you to practice."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have overdone it," replied Kaneko, holding up her arm helplessly.

The blonde girl from earlier walked into the room. "I found Alison," she said.

"Thanks a lot, Nadya," said Kaneko.

Alison grabbed her hand and helped the taller girl up. Immediately, the two young women assumed their positions and started sparring in the middle of the room.

Shuhei watched the two from the couch, noting the style that Kaneko fought with. It looked quite similar to hakuda, actually. She must be merging what she learned in Soul Society with what she practiced now, if only subconsciously.

Suddenly, Alison dropped any pretense of sparring and bopped Kaneko on the head.

"Hey!" shouted the other girl. "It's so on!"

Alison grinned and began chasing the shinigami girl around the room.

Nick groaned and turned away. "You guys are gonna break something," he complained. "Take it to the roof or something."

"Preach all you want," said Kaneko, "But who's gonna save meeeeee?" Shuhei could tell that she was no longer interested in fighting Alison, who was laughing maniacally.

"Can I?" asked Felicia. "I won't break anything."

"If this is what you want, then fire at will! Preferably now rather than later!"

"Hadō Number One, Shō!" cried Felicia.

Alison fell back and tumbled to the ground. She growled and struggled to get back up.

"Bakudō Number One, Sai," said Derek.

Alison's arms were pinned behind her back and she dropped to her knees. "You jerks!" she wailed.

Shuhei raised an eyebrow. So, it was true. Those two could and did use kidō. In fact, they worked together pretty well. Too bad they argued so much.

Kaneko stopped in front of the couch, wheezing a little. "Ugh," she gasped. "Haven't slept in thirty six hours, I'm on medication, my head's pounding, and I was almost killed by my friend. Catch me."

At that, the girl collapsed in exhaustion. Shuhei caught her, but barely. Lucky he had the reflexes of a soul reaper.

"Oi!" he shouted. "Where's Rei's room? I think she needs some rest."

Nick stared at him suspiciously. "Her name's Rin, Shuhei."

The shinigami groaned. "That was her cover name. Her real name's Rei Kaneko, and I'll explain everything later. Just help me out here."

Felicia walked over to him. "I'll show you the way," she said, dimpling. She skipped off out of the room.

Shuhei lifted Rei up and flash stepped after her, ignoring the gasps from the humans.

Felicia was climbing a spiral staircase. "This way," she called down to him.

Eventually, they reached a large bedroom with black walls and two identical futons, save for the bedding. One had a bright pink cover, and the other was lime green. There were posters for various bands and movies on the walls.

"Set her down on the green bed," said Felicia. "She should wake up in a few hours. In the mean time, let's go explain the situation to everyone, kay?"

He nodded. "By the way, what's 'Repo! The Genetic Opera'?"

The petite girl grinned. "One of our favorite movies. It's a horror-rock opera. Shall we?"

Without waiting for a reply, Felicia dashed out of the room.

Shuhei set Rei down gently on her bed and followed suit. The shinigami girl was fast asleep.

When he got downstairs, all of the housemates were assembled. Leah was in the middle, her arms crossed. "Okay," she began, "What's the story? Are you Rin-chan's boyfriend?"

He shook his head, keeping his face a cool mask. "I'm her superior officer. My name is Shuhei Hisagi, Lieutenant of Squad Nine of the Gotei 13. I'm a shinigami."

"So's Rin-chan," piped up Felicia from a squishy armchair.

Delaney sat down next to Nick, who was apparently her boyfriend. "You've got some explaining to do, Hisagi-san," she said.

* * *

><p>Three hours later, Shuhei was done explaining about Soul Society and the soul reapers. He'd also picked up a bit of information about the people living here.<p>

Leah Carson was a young woman who had inherited this house from her older cousin, who was the previous head of house. She had known Kaneko the longest. She apparently was also a homeschooling teacher, but Shuhei couldn't figure out for whom. Maybe Felicia, since she'd never graduated high school.

Delaney Ryan was an aspiring actress who loved Shakespeare and the color purple, which was the color of her magnificent eyes. She had dragged Nick to Las Vegas on a whim because she wanted to land a job there, and was now making her name known.

Nick Haravan, on the other hand, wanted to become a doctor. He was an online med student, getting his degree from his laptop. Shuhei could tell how devoted he was to Delaney. Apparently, Nick was also a good singer.

Phoebe and Michael Butler were a brother and sister duo from Pennsylvania. Phoebe, the short one, taught a class at a gym and her older brother worked as a sous chef at a casino. Michael, the tall sibling, was gay, and he apparently had a boyfriend who lived in the house, too. His name was Dante Fernandez, and he was out working as a delivery boy at the moment.

Nadya Dashkov was a usually quiet horseback-riding instructor who spent a lot of time on the internet on humor sites. Alison Roberts ran a karate dojo, and Gerard Travers was an artist who got his black belt from her. Mai Liang was a concierge at the same hotel where Kaneko worked.

While they were all relatively interesting people, Shuhei couldn't help but be a little tired from the tediousness of listening to their life stories. He actually zoned out for a while.

As he was beginning to nod off on the couch, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up. It was Leah.

"You look tired," she scolded. "You should get some rest. It's not like you don't have the rest of the week to complete your mission."

Shuhei looked away, slightly ashamed that his hosts were showing him such hospitality when he was clearly not their friend. It was a nice change.

"Hai," he said while yawning, too tired to notice that he had replied in Japanese. He fell asleep right there.

* * *

><p>Shuhei awoke to a loud commotion. There were people yelling throughout the house, their voices echoing through odd spots.<p>

He was alone in the den, and the wall clock read three in the afternoon. Wow, he really had been exhausted. Thinking back, the lieutenant tried to remember when he had last slept. His eyes widened. He'd already been sleep deprived for three days straight, what with running the Ninth Division back in Soul Society and tracking Kaneko in the World of the Living. No wonder he'd slept like a log.

Shuhei jumped off the couch and started walking down the hall, curious about whatever was going on. He was rewarded by the sight of Delaney running down another randomly placed set of stairs in the labyrinth-like house.

"Dante's back," she said breathlessly. "He brought the rest of us home."

Shuhei frowned. "What do you mean, the rest?"

The thin brunette smiled. "You'll see," she said mysteriously, and turned down the hallway towards the front door. "Wake up Rin-chan, won't you?" she asked over her shoulder.

Shuhei nodded and went up a few flights of stairs, taking the path that Felicia had taken earlier. He got to Felicia and Kaneko's room quickly.

The girl was already awake. "I can't believe you let me fall asleep in my shoes and makeup," she grumbled, running a brush through her black hair. "What's up?"

"Delaney told me that Dante just got home, and he brought 'the rest of us' with him. Does that mean anything to you?"

Kaneko's eyes widened. "I forgot that they were coming home today," she said in shock. "I missed them so much…"

Shuhei gave her an odd look and motioned towards the door. "We'd better get moving then," he said.

Kaneko nodded and whispered a name quietly. "Alex…" She dodged Shuhei and started running down the corridor, practically leaping down the stairs. She was quite agile for someone in a gigai.

Shuhei followed her, and they were soon standing near the front door.

Suddenly, it opened, and a young man with dark eyes and hair and tan skin was standing there. He smiled slightly at Kaneko and sent a questioning look at Shuhei. "You must be Hisagi," he said in a smooth voice.

"Dante!" squealed Kaneko. "How'd you know?"

"Michael called me earlier and told me the story."

She nodded excitedly. "So you picked them up in the delivery van?" she asked.

"Yeah." He motioned behind him. "The suitcases are out here." He propped the door open and exited Shuhei's field of vision. Suitcases came flying through the doorway, Kaneko catching each of them and setting them down.

"Dante!" came Michael's voice. The tall redhead ran over and hugged his boyfriend. "Hey, dude," he said.

Dante snorted and leaned against the wall. He looked out the door. "There's Amelia," he said to Kaneko.

Shuhei felt a reiatsu on par with Derek's when a skinny teenager in shorts and a tank top leaped through the door. She glomped onto Kaneko. "Hey, Rin! I missed you!" she exclaimed.

The female soul reaper laughed and hugged the girl. "Amelia, this is Shuhei Hisagi. He's a… coworker, I guess."

Amelia let go and gave Kaneko a weird look. "You mean a bartender?" She glanced at him and whistled. "Nice catch," she teased, and ran off down the hallway.

Kaneko blushed and looked up at Shuhei. "That was Amelia. We kind of adopted her about five years ago when she was ten because she had a high spiritual pressure and was attracting hollows." She frowned. "I think that's what it was. Using shinigami terms is so weird." She shrugged. "That's the case with all of our minors," she said simply.

Shuhei was slightly in shock. "You raise _children_ here?" he asked incredulously.

Kaneko looked offended. "It's mostly to protect them and those around them," she said defensively. She looked out the door. "Ooh! Here come Carly and Tristan!"

A pair of blonde kids appeared in the doorway, one with spiritual pressure and one without. The girl had golden, curly hair and looked about eleven, while the boy had platinum hair and a cherubic face. He was probably about seven years old.

"Hiya, Nee-san!" said Carly sweetly. She was the one with reiatsu. "Dante-Nii told me it was your Heritage week."

Tristan hugged Kaneko. Now that he'd been in the hallway for a bit, Shuhei realized that the boy _did_ have a spiritual pressure, but he was repressing it well. He thought back to a conversation he had had with Kaneko. She'd mentioned all three of them when talking about house members with special abilities. So who was this Alex person?

Right on cue, Kaneko began looking around wildly. "Where's Alex?" she asked. "Everyone else is here."

"He was tying his shoe," replied Tristan.

Suddenly, Shuhei sensed a reiatsu right outside. It was greater than Felicia's, and he knew that it was Alex, whoever that guy was.

A look of adoration appeared on Rei's face. "Alex," she said, her breath short.

As Alex came into view, running through the door and slamming into Rei's waiting arms, Shuhei realized that the situation had just gotten very complicated.

Alex was a four year old boy who came up to Rei's waist. He was on the tall side for his age, with lightly tanned skin and golden brown hair. He was hugging Rei tightly.

As she lifted him up into the air, Shuhei got a good look at his face. He was an adorable kid, and it seemed like he would be pretty good-looking when he got older. His brown eyes mirrored Rei's silver ones in their expression.

"I missed you so much," murmured Rei, holding the boy close.

"I missed you, too, Mama!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Dun, dun, DUNNNNNNN. Well, I brought back all the OC's! You know, the ones that we last saw about ten chapters ago?**

**I'm kind of iffy about this chapter, because I was kind of in a rush while writing it. And I just realized that it's my longest one yet. Yay!**

**So, what did you guys think? I feel like I kind of made a big deal about the ending, but it was a plot thing that I was excited about.**

**Review, please! I don't care if it's one word or a hundred, I just want feedback! And that goes for the dozens (perhaps hundreds) of you who read but decide not to review. It hurts my feelings.**

**Well enough complaining! Better post before the angry mob attacks!**

**~Paradox**


	13. Don't Lie To Me, Lie For Me

**Chapter thirteen is here! Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.**

**Thirteen is my favorite number, by the way, so I'm hoping for one for review than usual. Considering I get an average of one point six reviews per chapter, this shouldn't be too difficult (thanks AizheNi).**

**My hidden message ends this chapter, so I'll leave you with this: have you ever been listening to a song and accidentally started writing down the lyrics instead of what you were supposed to be writing? Well, I have this one song that always seems to be stuck in my head whenever I write...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, nor do I own any of the franchises to which I have made pop culture references. Or allusions.**

* * *

><p>"Wait, <em>what<em>?"

Shuhei was extremely confused. That child, Alex, just called Kaneko… no, he must have misheard. There was no way…

He looked sharply at the little boy in Kaneko's arms. He was wearing black shirt with some logo on it, soccer shorts, and Spiderman sneakers. With his golden color scheme, he didn't look much like Kaneko with her pale skin and black hair.

Kaneko glanced at Shuhei, a silly grin on her face. "Sorry, Shuhei. This is my little baby, Alex!" She kissed Alex's golden brown hair and squeezed him.

"Stop it, Mom!" complained the boy. "I'm not a baby anymore!" For the first time, he made eye contact with Shuhei. The child's eyes widened as he took in the image of the soul reaper. Shuhei self-consciously thought about his choice of clothing, what with the leather and the black and the chains, not to mention the tattoos and scars…

"Mama, who's that?"

Kaneko jerked slightly, as if she had become disenchanted. "Honey, this is Shuhei Hisagi. He's my friend, okay? And I'm sure he wants to be your friend, too."

The soul reaper couldn't help but play along. The boy was adorable, and he'd always been gentle with children. What with that incident with Kazeshini and that baby…

Hisagi smiled and walked up to Kaneko. As he leaned down towards her, he noticed that Alex shrank away slightly. That little seed of doubt planted in his head, Shuhei made his move.

"Hi, Alex. You can call me Shuhei, or Mr. Hisagi, or Hisagi-san, I don't care." He felt his smile grow wider as Alex's curiosity overcame his fear and the boy pushed himself away from his mother. There was still a bit of distrust in the child's eyes, but he was only four, after all.

"You have writing on your face. Mama doesn't let me do that, but she has pictures on her back and on her leg," said the boy suddenly. He squinted at Shuhei. "You have scars, too. Mama has lots of those."

A look of alarm appeared on Kaneko's face and she set Alex down. "Don't talk about that kind of stuff, Alex," she reprimanded. "You know how I feel about violence."

The brown-haired boy grinned up at her. "Yeah. You use it all the time!"

Kaneko spluttered something about protecting him and other people, color rising in her pale cheeks. She was so cute when she got flustered.

Alex looked up at Shuhei again. "You like black, too. Just like Mama." The boy frowned slightly. "You're not gonna be my new Daddy, are you?"

It was Shuhei's turn to blush and stammer. "O-of course not! I mean, it's not that I don't like her– wait, no, not _that_ kind of like– we just haven't known each other very long– circumstances that we can't control–"

Shuhei's embarrassing monologue of excuses was interrupted by Rei's laughter. It was a familiar sound now, loud and unrestrained, but had a bit of bitterness to it. It reminded him a lot of her in general.

Kaneko was wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. She grinned at Shuhei and shrugged. "Don't worry, Alex. Shuhei and I are just friends. Barely even friends, actually."

That sobered the two of them up. Shuhei was reminded of the fact that the second day of his mission was half over. He would soon have to bring Rei back to Soul Society. Most likely, she would never return. After serving whatever sentence Central 46 gave her, she would either rejoin the Gotei 13 or be cast out into the Rukongai. What of the kids here, then?

"Um, Rei…" he began, not knowing how to speak his mind. "There's something I should tell you–"

"It can wait."

Shuhei sighed and patted Alex on the head. "Nice to meet you, kiddo," he said tiredly.

The boy stuck out his tongue. "Stay away from Mama," he replied. After a meaningful cough and nudge from Kaneko, the boy gave his version of an apology. "I mean, you can still be her friend, but you have to be my friend too, okay? Me and Mama don't have many friends that don't live here, besides Uncle Derek."

That was news to Shuhei. He cast a concerned look at Kaneko, who had stiffened visibly. "What do you mean, Alex?" he asked softly, still staring at Kaneko.

"The other moms don't like Mama very much. They call her bad names 'cause she looks so young. But Mama's old!" he said casually. Alex then glanced up at his mother, mistaking her discomfort for disapproval. "Sorry, Mama. I meant 'ageless'. Anyway, I can still play with the other kids, but Mama goes to work instead of talking with the rest of the moms."

It almost made sense to Shuhei. With Kaneko's appearance, most would assume that she had been in her teens when Alex was born. How she endured the gossip, Shuhei had no idea.

At that moment, Kaneko scooped up Alex and lifted him over her shoulder. "Oof," she said, staggering under the weight. "You grew a lot when you were at summer camp, buddy."

Thinking only of assisting the struggling girl, Shuhei plucked Alex out of Kaneko's precarious hold and set the boy on his shoulders. He felt Alex's tiny hands grip his spiky black hair, and the shinigami held the kid's feet so he wouldn't slip. "Like the view up there?" he asked. The boy bounced a little and squirmed around. "Yeah!" he said.

Shuhei took a quick look at Kaneko, who was smiling warmly now. She started walking down another of the numerous hallways and motioned for Shuhei to follow.

Once they reached the end of the corridor, Kaneko opened one of the doors. Shuhei followed, making sure that Alex didn't hit his head on the doorframe. The room had a few doors connecting it to other rooms and hallways, plus another staircase. He surveyed the contents and deduced that it was a playroom.

The carpet was an electric blue and the walls were covered in whiteboards, cups of dry-erase markers attached every five feet. They were obviously put to good use, as there were drawings everywhere. Down near the ground were scribbles of color, probably Alex's work. Above those were simple drawings that Shuhei figured had been made by Tristan and Carly. On the upper half of the walls there were lovely sketches, most likely drawn by Gerard, and little anime-like characters. Two people came to mind as the source of those pieces. There was a TV mounted on one wall and shelves that housed various picture books and games, plus puzzles and building blocks.

Alex let out a little noise and began squirming again. Kaneko looked sharply above Shuhei's head. "Use your words, buddy," she said.

"Put me down, now, Shuhei," said Alex. Kaneko gave him a hard look. "Please," he added.

Shuhei chuckled and set the boy down on the floor. Deciding this would be a good time to talk to Kaneko privately, he said, "Do you think I could speak with alone for a minute or two?"

Kaneko nodded and crouched down next to Alex. "Leah will be here in a few minutes to play with you. She can get anyone else you want to play with, but I might not see you until dinner. Okay?"

Alex hugged her and whispered something that made Kaneko smile again. "You'll have to ask him yourself," she replied. "I love you, honey."

"I love you, too," came Alex's muffled reply. Kaneko stood up and grabbed Shuhei by the arm, opening up another door and leading him down the hall. "This leads to the kitchen," she said briskly.

Sure enough, the two were soon standing outside an average-looking kitchen. Kaneko let go of his wrist and sat on the counter. "So, what's up?" she asked casually.

"Who's his father? And why does he have that unnatural reiatsu?"

Kaneko, shocked, stood up. "I thought I told you. He's adopted too, just like Carly and Tristan and Amelia. His father and his mother were here on vacation before their baby was born." Sadness filled her eyes. "She went into labor early, and her husband took her to the same hospital that I was in at the time, taking Phoebe there because of a lacrosse injury. When their son was born…"

Rei's voice broke, and Shuhei involuntarily reached out to comfort her. "What happened?" he asked softly.

"Alex was born with that reiatsu. I don't know why or how, but you told me that sometimes that happens with humans. Maybe he was a soul reaper in his last life, I don't know. Either way, it made him a beacon for hollows."

Rei was on the verge of tears now, however mightily she was trying to hide it. Shuhei tenderly took her by the arms and leaned forward. "Just tell me," he said gently. "You'll feel better afterwards."

Rei nodded and sniffled. "One of them came straight to the hospital. Both Phoebe and I felt it, but she had sprained her ankle and was getting a pair of crutches. I ran off, tracking it down to the maternity ward–"

Rei slumped against Shuhei and started sobbing. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and murmured soothingly, doing his best to comfort the crying girl. Her armor had shattered for the moment, letting him catch a glimpse of her true self. From the extreme amount of sorrow exuding from her and her scar, Shuhei figured that this incident was probably one of many traumatizing experiences she had undergone.

That was a good word for her, traumatized. The lieutenant could now see that she had psychological scars as well as physical ones. For someone who seemed so strong, it was frightening how fragile she was inside. No, not necessarily fragile…

Rei had calmed down a bit, but her hands still clutched at Shuhei's chest and she didn't look up. "I was too late," she said in a quiet voice. "The hollow had killed them and was eating their souls when I got to their room. Alex was on the floor, screaming. He hadn't even been swaddled in a blanket before he became an orphan. I ran over to him– using flash step, I guess– and picked him up, sticking him inside my jacket and zipping it up."

She finally met Shuhei's eyes with her own silver ones, ringed with red from crying. "I killed the hollow with my bare hands. I didn't even use kidō on it. I just beat the shit out of that damn monster."

Her eyes had hardened at those last words. "Once I cracked its mask, the hollow died. I took him home and raised him as my own, and everything that entails. My housemates at the time and I voted, and we named him Alexander, in hopes that he would help protect others like we do now."

Hisagi was speechless. Deciding there was absolutely nothing appropriate he could add to the conversation, he looked up and pulled Rei close to him. She buried her head in his shoulder and began crying again, softly and without shuddering this time.

* * *

><p>They didn't move until an hour later, when they heard Michael and Alison's voices. Jumping away from each other, Shuhei busied himself by looking in the fridge while Kaneko leaped back onto the counter and turned away from the door, hiding her face so the newcomers wouldn't see her ruined makeup.<p>

"All I'm saying is that you should get help from Shuhei and Rin for dinner instead of me, Michael," said Alison crossly, walking through the door first. She stopped suddenly at the sight of the two she had just mentioned, causing Michael to walk into her. "And look! They're here already."

Michael squinted suspiciously at Shuhei. "I hope we're not interrupting anything," the redhead said pointedly.

Shuhei, cool and composed as usual, answered with a shrug. "Since it's Kaneko's Heritage week, we came down here to inventory ingredients for sushi," he lied.

Alison nodded and turned around. "We~ll, since you don't need me…" she began, walking slowly out of the kitchen.

"It's still your night for kitchen duty," replied Michael, blocking Alison's exit.

"Aww, come on!" Alison complained. "Can't I just go on the grocery run for tonight? We have an extra set of hands now," she added, gesturing at Shuhei.

"Fine then," Michael conceded. "Okay, then. What do you have in mind, Shuhei?"

"Anything but sea urchins," the lieutenant retorted. "I can't stand them." He glanced over at Kaneko, who had grabbed a spare piece of paper and was scribbling down on it.

"Here's a list," she said, holding it up without turning around. Shuhei closed the refrigerator and plucked the sheet out of her hand. He handed it to Alison, who thanked them and ran off, presumably to the front door of the house.

"By the way," he said suddenly, "how do you guys get around the city?"

"We usually hail a cab or take Dante's van," said Michael. "Sometimes we walk." The tall boy smirked at Kaneko's back. "Or in one case, run. And jump. And vault. And climb."

Though he couldn't see her face, Shuhei practically felt Kaneko blush. "Don't use those kinds of words to talk about it," she snapped. "It has its own philosophy and it keeps me in shape. Besides, it's the only way that I get to talk to Neko-sama."

That was interesting. "What are you two talking about?" asked the shinigami. "I feel so out of the loop."

"Have you ever heard of a sport called parkour?" asked Michael. At Shuhei's blank stare, the human tried again. "Free running? You know, running around and clearing obstacles in the quickest way possible? It's rather dangerous in a city." He sent an amused look towards Kaneko. "Rin once jumped over a moving car. That was spectacular."

Huh. He'd never heard of such a thing. "So who's this Neko-sama?"

"He's a cat," replied Kaneko. "Technically the soul of a cat– you know, a soul. He taught me about free running and races me every other week." Her back straightened. "In fact, he should be here again in a few days."

"Fascinating," murmured Shuhei. He'd have to include that in his report. Which he should probably be giving right now. "Well, you'll have to excuse me," he said, walking towards the other door in the kitchen. "I should call up someone in Soul Society and give today's report. Walk with me, Kaneko," he added, trying to sound more lieutenant-like.

As they walked out the door and into the dining room, Kaneko caught up to him and punched him on the arm. "Thanks for getting me out of there, Shuhei," she said.

"No problem. I'm sure you don't want anyone to know you had a little breakdown."

This time, he felt a definite smack on his bicep. Shuhei looked down at Kaneko, who was glaring openly. "Never speak of it," she warned.

And that shut him up.

* * *

><p>Once they made it back to the den, Rin pounced on one of the sofas and sprawled there while Shuhei took out something that looked like a cell phone.<p>

"What's that?" she asked, curious about everything related to the world of shinigami.

"I've heard people use lots of different names. I just call it a soul phone," replied Shuhei, dialing on the number pad.

"Ha. Nice pun." Rin watched the black-haired man from the couch. She heard a faint voice on the other end and tried not to eavesdrop.

They were speaking in Japanese. "Hello, Lieutenant Kira. This is Lieutenant Hisagi."

The guy on the other end, presumably Kira, answered right away. "Is this your status report? Has anything new happened, Hisagi?"

"Umm…"

Rin looked up in alarm. What would Shuhei tell Soul Society? She put a finger over her lips and made a "shh" sound. Shuhei nodded grimly.

"Barely anything. The rogue is very clever about keeping herself hidden. My encounter yesterday was merely a coincidence."

"That's too bad," crackled Kira's voice through the soul phone. "Good luck. Hopefully you'll be done with this soon and can get back to work. Squad Nine's struggling without a captain or lieutenant to guide them."

"I'll keep them in mind," replied Shuhei. He hit a button on the soul phone and flipped it closed, sticking it in the pocket of his black jeans.

"Who's this Kira person?" she found herself asking.

"His name is Izuru Kira, and he's the lieutenant of Squad Three. His captain was Gin Ichimaru, until Captain Ichimaru joined Aizen, that is. Kira's one of my closest friends."

"I see. So you're not a total loner after all," she replied.

"Hey!"

* * *

><p>Once Alison returned with the groceries, Rin and Shuhei helped Michael prepare dinner. Everyone put in their own order for sushi, except the three younger children. Michael cooked them shrimp and scallops with some diluted wasabi sauce or something, as far as Rin could tell. Carly, Tristan, and Alex seemed to like it fine, but secretly she worried that Alex was too young to be eating something like that. However, living in this house was equivalent to having a strong stomach.<p>

The dining room consisted of four round tables and mismatching chairs enough for all sixteen residents plus Derek and Shuhei. No doubt extra ones had been dragged in from nearby rooms.

The dinner conversations were light and casual, but Rin noticed that her friends kept away from the topic of shinigami, most likely for the children's sake.

Speaking of children, Alex had left his table and was poking her in the side. "I'm done, Mama," he said in his cute voice, his big black eyes blinking slowly. He smiled a little, and Rin noticed that he had lost one of his baby teeth on the bottom.

"Okay then, buddy," she said, returning his smile. "We have some Japanese candy for dessert and then it's off to bed. You've had a long day, driving back here from camp."

Alex giggled. "I didn't drive, Mama! Dante did!"

Rin chuckled a little. "Of course, honey." She ruffled his hair a little and got up from her chair.

After dessert, Rin helped Tristan and Alex get ready for bed and read to Tristan and Carly from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. She had finished reading the first one to them two nights before they left for camp.

"Good night, Nee-san," said Carly, smiling angelically. "See you at breakfast if you wake up in time."

Rin kissed her forehead and walked Tristan to his room, tucking him in. "Sweet dreams, dude," she said. He grinned and scooted under the covers of his bed.

Alex's room connected to Tristan's, so she went through the adjoining door between them, closing it all the way behind her.

Alex was sitting in his bed, staring out the window. Rin walked up to him and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Get to sleep, buddy," she said fondly.

Alex smiled sleepily and reached over, hugging her softly. "Night night, Mama," he yawned. She tucked him in and turned off the light, heading downstairs to the den to make everyone drinks so she could take a quick nap before heading to work with Derek.

* * *

><p>It was eating him up inside.<p>

Shuhei didn't know if he should talk to Kaneko about what would happen in Soul Society or not. As soon as the children entered the game, the rules changed. Shuhei was so conflicted that he hadn't said anything to Kaneko since his phone call.

Now, he was sitting on a stool in the den like all the other adults, waiting for Kaneko to show up and serve up some drinks.

When she walked in, Shuhei realized that she had only cleaned off her eye makeup and hadn't redone it. She still had the black lipstick, though.

She vaulted over the bar counter and began taking drink orders, mixing them up quickly and fluidly. She really was skilled at it.

His resolve steeled by a quick shot of whiskey, Shuhei made his decision. He would tell her as soon as possible. Waste more time and it would only get harder.

Even so, he spent some time socializing with the human residents, gradually making his way over to the corner where Kaneko was now standing, sipping a glass of wine. He was perfectly sober, being used to the supernatural potency of alcohol made out of spirit particles in Soul Society.

"Kaneko, I feel like there's something I should remind you about."

Her happy face immediately became guarded. "What is it?" she asked warily.

"It's just that… do you have any idea what's going to happen to you once you return to the Soul Society?"

"Not really. I just imagine that I'll tell them what I know and we'll go from there."

Shuhei sighed and shook his head. "Trust me, it's much more complicated than that. One of the most basic laws upheld by Central 46 is that it is illegal for a shinigami to remain in the World of the Living longer than they are permitted. Since you were never ordered to leave Soul Society in the first place, who knows what your sentence will be."

Kaneko looked troubled, but Shuhei continued. "I don't think they'll listen to you, even if I vouch for you. They're rather stubborn." He paused a little as a new idea popped into his mind. "Now that I think about it, it's very possible that they'll sentence you to the Nest of Maggots."

Kaneko made a noise in disgust. "Eww, what's that? Sounds icky."

"It's a prison supervised by the Detention Unit of the Stealth Force. Its prisoners are anyone deemed even potentially dangerous to Soul Society. Since you haven't done anything treasonous, that would be the worst they could do."

Kaneko sounded a bit worried now. "So, once I get out, I can go home right?"

Shuhei didn't answer.

"_Right_?"

Making eye contact with the tall girl, Shuhei answered her as truthfully as possible.

"There's next to no chance that you'll ever be released. Even if you were, Central 46 would never let you return to the World of the Living."

The next thing Shuhei's brain registered was the sound of Kaneko's wineglass shattering on the floor.

Rei herself had made no sound, but the shock and fear was written all over her face. She turned away and fled, slamming the door behind her.

The room instantly grew silent. "What did you say to her?" asked Felicia. "She looked really upset."

"I…"

"Somebody should follow her," added Derek. "At least make sure she doesn't do something stupid."

"Where do you think she went?" asked Hisagi, trying to remain composed.

"I have a good idea."

Surprisingly, the person who said that was Nick. He handed his drink to Delaney and opened the door Kaneko had slammed. Shuhei followed him.

Once they had gone up two flights of stairs, Nick stopped. He looked back at Shuhei with heavy-lidded hazel eyes. "I'm guessing she's on the roof," he said. "That's where she goes when she needs to clear her mind."

Shuhei stared at the other boy. "How come you're the only one who knows this?" he asked suspiciously.

Nick sighed. "Because I set up the rope for her on the roof, in a place where no one could see it. She's one of my best friends, you know."

That came as a shock to Shuhei. He had figured that Kaneko was only close to Felicia, Derek, and the children, but Nick? Weird.

"And why is that?" he couldn't help asking.

"We have a lot in common. We like some of the same books and television. She's the one who got me hooked on Nirvana, too. Oh, and we're the only two hockey fans in the house. I grew up in Chicago, not Vegas."

"That's interesting. Why does she like it?"

"When Delaney and I first moved in, I got into an argument with Rin. She does that a lot. I wanted to watch a Black Hawks game, and she wanted to watch some crime show. We ended up watching both, so now she's a hockey fan and I'm a wannabe detective. Three years ago, I took her and Delaney home to Chicago during winter for a week. We stayed with my parents. I taught her to play a little, and we sometimes play street hockey here."

This was a bit unexpected. "Well, if you've got so much in common, why aren't you dating her instead of Delaney?"

The brown-haired boy shrugged. "We just don't click that way. And I've been dating Delaney since high school." His eyes became a bit distant, and he pulled out a small silver cross on a chain around his neck. "Plus, I'm a devout Serbian Orthodox. I thought she was some vaguely demonic spirit when we first moved in." He shook his head. "From what you've told me, she's actually more like an angel, but it's too late to fix that. You should go talk to her now. I'm sure you can't make anything worse."

"Thanks," Shuhei grumbled sarcastically. "How do I get up there, anyway?"

"These are the main stairs. If you stay on these, you'll eventually get to the top floor. Off to the right is a wooden door. Go through it and remember to close it behind you. Push up the hatch on the ceiling and climb the ladder. You'll be on the roof. Find her using her reiatsu, I guess."

Shuhei nodded in thanks and followed Nick's directions. Once he was on the roof, he looked around for any sign of Kaneko.

It was dark out, considering it was about ten o'clock at night now. There were some lights that the residents had obviously set up here, but he couldn't see Kaneko anywhere.

He turned around and saw a raised part of the roof that was about twenty feet above where he now stood. The lieutenant hid his own reiatsu and felt around for hers. She was definitely up there.

Using his shinigami abilities, he leaped up silently, hoping that Kaneko wasn't looking.

Luckily, she had her back mostly to him. The strange part was that she was standing up on a tightrope, which was stretched about five feet off the ground between two metal poles. The wire looked about fifteen feet long.

Kaneko wasn't walking on it at the moment. She was merely balancing with her arms out, about three feet away from the closer pole.

Taking a chance, Shuhei snuck closer, hiding in the shadows. This elevated part of the roof was lit by one fluorescent light, keeping the tightrope visible but letting the perimeter fade to darkness. Shuhei caught a glimpse of Kaneko's face.

Rei looked almost calm. Not serene, really, more like she was emotionless. Blank. Apathetic. Underneath it, Shuhei could see she was suppressing her emotions, trying to control herself. What concentration it must take to balance on such a thin wire.

She began walking again, taking slow, precise steps. Shuhei recognized now that her curious gait of putting one foot right in front of the other was just out of habit. Rei had taken off her shoes and curled her feet around the wire, taking any assistance in balance she could get. Her posture was perfectly straight, and she never looked down.

She was beautiful, and Shuhei didn't try to chase the thought away. Here she was, trapped on a thin wire, trying to balance the same way she balanced her life, always in danger of losing her balance and falling.

Finally getting the courage to speak up, Shuhei stepped out of the shadows. "Where'd you learn to do that?" he asked casually.

Rei's head turned sharply towards him, and he saw the look of surprise on her face. At the same time, he saw her begin to lose her balance, and he realized that he'd made a mistake.

As Rei started to fall, Shuhei flash stepped over and caught her in the air, bridal style. "Sorry about that," he said breezily.

Her shock quickly morphed into annoyance, then anger. Her silver eyes looked icy. "Put. Me. Down."

Shuhei scowled right back. "Don't be difficult," he retorted.

"You're the reason I fell in the first place," she argued.

"Well, maybe you should have been paying more attention to your surroundings instead of spacing out. You wanna follow something or someone, you mask your reiatsu like I did. That carelessness could get you killed someday."

"I doubt it," said Rei acidly. "You know, because I'm going to spend the rest of my extended existence rotting away in a Maggot's Nest along with everyone else your Soul Society doesn't like."

He almost dropped her. "You don't know that for sure."

Her expression and her voice were perfectly bitter. "You said it yourself, Lieutenant. You came here to arrest me, so you might as well drop the friendly act and take me away from my family."

He tried to say something, but she cut him off. "Yeah, they're my family. And no matter what anyone says, Alex is my son, and I can't just leave. If that's not good enough, _you_ give me a better cause to lead." Her eyes became almost pleading. "How much longer do I have before your mission deadline?"

Shuhei broke eye contact. "Five days," he replied softly.

Rei looked shaken. "But you can get an extension from Soul Society, right?" she asked, the desperation clear in her voice. "Ideally, I would stay here until Alex was old enough to take care of himself. Can't people get free time before they go to jail like in the World of the Living? I've known people to get up to five years of living normally before they have to go to jail. And since people age slowly in Soul Society, I might be able to get ten years. They would let me do that. I hope."

Shuhei shook his head. "Not if they think you're a threat."

Rei frowned, but she didn't look like she would cry. Instead, she looked rather determined. "If that's the case, I'll have to ask for your assistance. Anything that will get me more time."

"And what do you suggest I do?"

Rei stared into his eyes, an odd look on her face. He felt his grip tighten on her.

"Lie."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: How'd you like the new chappie? To be honest, I've had writer's block all week. I finally got rid of it on an eight hour drive home from my cousins' house, six of which I spent outlining this chapter in my head.**

**Minutes, that is. Just kidding! I really don't know how much I though about it, but hey, I'm done now!**

**I hope you enjoyed the latest installment! By the way, the "include your favorite character for a chance to see them appear" event is back up! Feel free to make suggestions and offer constructive criticism! As in, review!**

**~Paradox**


	14. Look Alive, Sunshine: Or At Least Awake

**I'm so, so sorry that this chapter's up a day late!**

**I had a huge fight with my mum yesterday and lost computer privileges (she knows my weakness), so I didn't write this until today.**

**Hooray for AizheNi and TheGreatPumkin for reviewing. I swear, every time you review, the messages become more amusing!**

**Some readers may find this boring, but I ****_did_**** put some action in the beginning. Well, I just want to show you what a normal morning is like in the Carson/Carelli/Kaneko/Butler/Dashkov/Ryan/Haravan/Fernandez/Travers/Roberts/Liang household (holy crap I need to shorten that)!**

**Disclaimer: I make a ton of shameless references in this chapter, most of all to the internet and to Bleach. All I own are my OC's and my storyline (though it hasn't been copyrighted :P). Hey, I'm what you call an "internet person".**

* * *

><p>"What do you mean, lie?" asked Shuhei Hisagi incredulously.<p>

Kaneko glared at him. "Isn't it obvious?" She sighed. "I thought you were at least a bit smarter than that."

"Don't make me drop you."

She responded by punching his jaw. Since her right arm was pinned against his chest, Shuhei was caught off guard by the left hook, making him stagger a little. She scowled at him, rubbing her knuckles. "That hurt," she pouted.

"Says the one who just punched me," replied Shuhei. He snorted at her expression. "Good punch," he added, doing his best to ignore the flash of pain. "For a girl in a gigai."

"I'll do it again," warned Kaneko.

"I doubt that. As you can see, even though your punch was fantastic for a human body, I'm used to much worse. That's why I didn't drop you." Realizing something unusual, he then amended, "It was great for someone right-handed, anyway."

She stared at him. "What do you mean?"

Now confused, Shuhei shifted his hold on her slightly and tried to explain. "When you were writing that grocery list for Alison, you were using your right hand. Your handwriting looked natural."

Kaneko made a face, saying, "It's kind of weird that you noticed something like that."

"It comes with being an editor-in-chief."

"Right," Kaneko replied. Then she rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm ambidextrous. I have the same control over and skill with both left and right parts of my body. I was writing with my right hand because I picked up the pen with it."

That bit of information was unexpected. "Really?" asked the lieutenant. "That's unusual. I wonder if you're a dual wielder," he mused.

Kaneko looked blankly at him, then replied. "I don't know what that means."

"Someone whose zanpaku-tō takes the form of two blades instead of one. Captain Ukitake of Squad Thirteen and Captain Kyoraku of Squad Eight are both dual wielders in shikai, but Ukitake-taicho is the only shinigami I know whose zanpaku-tō is still in two pieces when sealed."

She wrinkled her nose. "You didn't tell me about that before," she accused. Shuhei noticed that she had stopped glaring at him. Progress.

"I didn't find it… relevant."

Kaneko had a thoughtful expression. "If what you said about zanpaku-tō being manifestations of parts of our souls," she began, "I wonder what kinds of people those captains are."

"They're very powerful and good at what they do. I'm not sure I know them well enough to reason out why they're dual wielders too."

Kaneko stared at him for a moment, a hint of confusion in her eyes. Then it disappeared. "Fascinating," she said. "I would have thought that someone whose soul manifested in two separate forms would have two distinct sides to them." She looked off into the night sky. "Or maybe suffering from some inner turmoil." Her eyes grew wistful. "I wish I knew what my zanpaku-tō looks like."

"Well, we won't find out until you leave your gigai. And that wouldn't be a very good idea for now, considering it might be the only thing masking your spiritual pressure."

She snapped her head right back to him. "You mean I have a substantial amount of reiatsu?" she asked excitedly.

Hisagi nodded. "Considering how much it's been fluctuating recently, I wouldn't be surprised." He frowned. "Although, that in itself is probably a target for concern. I don't see how such rapid increases and declines in spiritual pressure can be a good thing."

Kaneko looked away again. "You know," she said softly, "I've been feeling a bit strange for the past few months. I feel like there's something building up inside me for a while, and then the feeling would just vanish. It's kind of a faint sensation, though, so sometimes I don't notice it."

"When _do_ you notice it?"

Kaneko's face grew serious. "Well, often when the sense of pressure dissipated, I'd get a migraine. Does that help?"

* * *

><p>Rin was starting to get a bit edgy. Shuhei <em>still<em> hadn't put her down, but was instead carrying out a semi-normal conversation. They had strayed from the whole purpose of the conversation, too!

"Speaking of my presence being revealed," she began, "what do think about lying to the Soul Society about me?"

Shuhei's face was resolute. "I don't know how much I can do for you without betraying their trust," he said. "And believe me, I'm not keen on the idea."

Rin sighed. "Just tell Soul Society that I'm too elusive. Something like that. If they think that you, a lieutenant, can't find me, they might give up for awhile. I mean, they can't keep you here forever, right?"

The male shinigami nodded. "The Ninth Division needs me back," he agreed. He still looked troubled, though. "Even so, I'm not sure I could bring myself to lie for you." He looked away, and the next time he spoke, his voice was bitter. "I've been betrayed before, and I can't see myself doing the same thing as _them_." The last word was full of intensity, but Rin wouldn't quite call it anger or hatred.

"I understand you situation," she said quietly. "But you need to understand mine. I'm not _ready_ to leave." Overcome by a sudden sense of annoyance, she glared at him. "And maybe _you_ should have a little sensitivity! Think of the children!"

Shuhei scowled right back. "This isn't some ad for a charity!" he snapped.

"Then what would you call what I've done for Amelia, Carly, and Tristan?" she asked angrily. "For Alex?"

"Cradle snatching!"

She gasped in fury. "You heartless asshole!" she roared, smacking him with her free hand. Since he was still holding her, his hands weren't free to protect himself. Good.

"Oi!" he shouted. "Don't want to get blood on your pretty gloves, do you?" He smirked. "You probably wouldn't to replace these things. What if they got torn?"

With that, Shuhei did something completely unexpected. He _bit_ her _hand_! He was using those nice white teeth of his to _rip_ her left glove off of her hand!

Ignoring Rin's furious protests, the bastard pulled her expensive, black lace covered, fingerless glove off her hand and spit it out.

As soon as he dropped his guard by doing that, Rin punched him on the underside of his chin, fairly easy from her position. The hit struck home, sending Shuhei reeling. "Put me down now!" she shrieked.

"Gladly!" he yelled, dropping her unceremoniously. The abrupt fall knocked the wind out of her, making her wheeze.

She lay on her back, panting, trying to regain her breath. After a minute or so, she sat up, cradling her left arm to her chest. That punch had really jarred her arm. "I–" she tried, but still couldn't find enough breath. "I… can't _believe_ you!" She lost her voice to a coughing fit for another minute. "You… jerk!" she rasped.

Shuhei looked down at her, his face composed once more. "I only followed your request," he said coolly. "You should be thankful I followed an order of a subordinate."

"I… am not… your _subordinate_!" she wheezed. Rin was so angry with this man, this soul reaper who acted so mature but was in fact extremely _rude_. She glared up at his calm face. "Why can't you treat me like an equal?" she asked heatedly.

That caught him off guard. "What did you say?" he asked, his surprise clear in his body language. Sheesh, why were everyone's emotions so obvious?

"I asked," said Rin slowly, "why you don't treat me as an equal. I know you're a lieutenant, but it's highly doubtful you were my division's lieutenant." Shuhei opened his mouth to reply, but Rin didn't let him. "That's right, _were_. As in, I don't currently consider myself to be a part of the Gotei 13. So right now, you're just a guest in my house, and you should act accordingly! Ever since I met you, you haven't treated me with a shred of respect!"

Shuhei stood above her open-mouthed, making him look dumbfounded. _Emphasis on dumb_, thought Rin in irritation. Seriously, what was this guy's problem?

"Stop looking so shocked," she snapped.

Shuhei looked around, as if trying to find the right words to say. His eyes finally landed on her, but he wasn't making eye contact. What was he looking at?

"I'm… sorry," he said tightly. "I just wasn't expecting you to be like this." With that, he turned around and leaped off the raised part of the roof and out of sight, presumably to the trapdoor that would bring him inside again.

Rin's anger faded away, leaving her confused and tired. Why could she never hold back her temper? What was it that was making her so hotheaded recently?

She struggled to her feet and started to follow Shuhei when she noticed her glove on the ground, near where he had been standing. She picked it up and was about to put it on when she noticed something. She froze in terror.

Shuhei had been looking at her hand.

More specifically, her wrist.

Shuhei probably hadn't been paying attention, but she knew that he had never seen her bare wrists. Part of the uniform at Fortune's Favor was a pair of black silk gauntlets that went from elbow to thumb. He wouldn't have noticed, because all the other girls were wearing them too. And then when she'd changed out of her uniform, she'd put on her fingerless gloves, which were secured by a fastener on the wrist.

She usually covered the skin there plus adding concealer, but she had forgotten this time because she had been in Derek's room with Shuhei.

And now the outer layer of protection was gone, too.

He had seen them.

* * *

><p>Shuhei hadn't mentioned it to Kaneko because he felt like that might start another argument. Nothing had prepared him for what he had caught a glimpse of on her arm. Why hadn't he noticed them before?<p>

That's right! Part of her uniform (the only part she really adhered to) was that pair of gloves that came up to the middle of the palm. All the waitresses and bartenders had been wearing them, so he hadn't thought much of it.

Much less that she was hiding something.

Under her gloves, at least on her left wrist, were scars.

They had looked absolutely horrific, discoloring her entire wrist. The angry red skin area was about two inches wide. The welts looked old, but were very deep and therefore marred her all the more. Where had they come from?

Shuhei raced down the stairs, stopping on a random floor. A light was on down the hallway, and he followed it.

It was Mai and Nadya's bedroom, as the two were roommates. Nadya was sitting in front of a high-end computer, reading a blog, and Mai was reading a magazine.

Nadya looked over at him coolly, unperturbed by his sudden arrival. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice monotone.

"I was… just looking for a guest room or something," he said.

The blonde clicked on something on the computer screen and got up from her swivel chair. "I can take you, I guess," she said emotionlessly.

"Thanks," he replied, a little unnerved by her attitude.

The Russian girl walked right past him and down the hall, headed for the stairs. Instead of climbing onto them, she went around. Shuhei followed her to the other side of the corridor.

Nadya pointed at a dark doorway and said, "This is the only one. You're lucky you were already on this floor." She turned and started back down towards her room. "Good night," she said, not looking back.

Shuhei went into the guest room, grumbling about rude humans as soon as Nadya was out of earshot. Why was she being so unfriendly? Everyone else in the house was hospitable enough. Even Dante, who was a bit detached, and Gerard, who barely spoke, were nice to him. So what was Nadya's deal?

The shinigami groped around in the darkness for the light switch. Once he found it and turned it on, he surveyed the room.

Creamy white walls, dark brown carpet, moss green curtains and bedspread. It was a nice color combination and a simple design.

He flopped down on the bed and kicked off his shoes. Until now, he hadn't realized how much more quickly he became tired in the World of the Living. He had only been awake for, what, seven hours? And he was exhausted once again. Maybe it was just an effect from being surrounded by so many energetic humans.

He turned off the lights, stumbled back to the bed, stripped to his underwear, and got under the covers. It took a while, but soon he was fast asleep, all his worries and concerns forgotten.

* * *

><p>Rin had gone down to her and Felicia's room in a daze. Her best friend was sitting on her pink bed, listening to her iPod and reading some paranormal romance book. Would the girl ever grow up?<p>

"Hey," said Felicia, not even looking up from her book.

"Are you still hooked on vampires," replied Rin, "or have you moved on?"

Felicia gave a noncommittal shrug and continued reading.

Rin was about to go to bed before she realized that she wouldn't have enough time for her usual catnap before shift at the bar. She groaned, causing Felicia to pause her iPod and take out her earbuds.

"Now what?" asked her roommate. "Dead! just came on. What's the deal?"

"I don't want to go to work," Rin complained. "I want to sleep."

Felicia made a face. "I'd rather sleep than spend time with Derek any day. Actually, there's a lot of things I'd rather do than be with him."

Rin sighed. "Not everything, Felicia," she said tiredly, "is about you and Derek. You don't have to talk to him and you're not obliged to go with me."

The brunette pouted. "I just want to spend some time with you," she whined.

"Oh, please. I know that you just want to bum a few free drinks off of me. You can do that at home, too."

"But we don't have nearly as much stuff here! Just the basics!"

Rin gave her roommate a death glare. "Don't act so spoiled," she said, sticking out her tongue.

Felicia copied her. "Yow not duh bossth off me!" she tried to say, accidentally biting her tongue. "Ouch!"

Rin chuckled. "Yeah, but Derek's the boss of _me_, and he'll probably fire me if I miss any more work hours. I'd better get ready to go soon." She paused, remembering something. "Damn! I left my uniform at Derek's!"

Felicia giggled. "Have a good night," she said cheerfully, waving her fingers.

Rin walked out of the room and down the stairs to find Derek.

He was in the game room, playing with Leah, Delaney, Phoebe, Michael, and Nick. It was Phoebe's turn, and she moved her little figure to one of the rooms on the board. "I think it was Mr. Green in the ballroom with the wrench!" she declared, moving her brother's piece next to hers. Phoebe herself was Miss Scarlet (a reference to her hair), and her brother's was obviously because of his eyes. Let's see, who was everyone else? Leah was Mrs. Peacock (motherly attitude?), Nick was Professor Plum (because he's so smart?), and Delaney was Mrs. White (presumably because of her meticulous cleaning habits).

That left poor Derek as Colonel Mustard. She snickered.

"I thought you hated condiments," Rin said to Derek. He looked up from his cards and gave her a dirty look.

"At least he's a badass military guy," he mumbled.

She snorted and plopped down on a beanbag. "We should head back to the casino in an hour or so," she decided. "I'll need to get my uniform from your room, too."

Delaney waggled her eyebrows. "And what's it doing there?" asked the actress suggestively.

"Lying folded up in the bathroom, I assume," Rin deadpanned. "I changed out of it before I came back home."

Leah sighed and held up a card for Phoebe, disproving the redhead's accusation. "Just get home on time tomorrow morning so you can get some sleep and still see the kids," she ordered.

"Hai, Leah-taicho."

Leah groaned and waved her away. "Don't start treating me like one of them captains," she commanded.

"Yes, ma'am?" Rin tried.

"Better."

* * *

><p>Shuhei yawned as he stretched, looking around the sunlit room. Where was he again?<p>

Oh, yeah. The guestroom in the boardinghouse-type place.

He got out of bed and looked for some clean clothes. He groaned when he realized they were still in his stash up on a rooftop somewhere. He would have to go get them in shinigami form.

Leaving his gigai and placing it on his bed, Shuhei opened the room's window and jumped out, flash stepping across the sky and to where he thought he left his human disguises.

Sure enough, he recognized the top of the building and found his stuff. Using a kidō spell, the shinigami packed it up tightly and brought it back to the house, putting the clothing in his closet. There wasn't much, but it would last him the week.

Shuhei sighed in relief. Well, that had been easy.

After he got back into his gigai, he pulled on some black jeans splattered with bright blue paint and a matching blue sleeveless shirt with the gokon tekkō logo, the flaming skull, on it. Grabbing a zipper-covered leather jacket and putting on a black pair of combat boots, he headed downstairs for breakfast.

Down in the dining room, the majority of the house members were seated, drinking coffee or tea and talking.

Leah was sipping a mug of something and reading the newspaper. She looked up when he walked in. "Morning, Shuhei," she said sleepily. "Could you go help Michael with breakfast? You're more familiar with Japanese cuisine."

Shuhei nodded lazily and walked through the doorway that led to the kitchen. Michael was steaming rice on the stove and Felicia, was sitting on the counter, wearing a lacy white cutsew blouse and a high-waisted, knee length maroon skirt and petticoat. She was babbling about something that Shuhei didn't bother to listen to.

A high-pitched whistling filled the kitchen, but the petite woman didn't seem to notice.

"Felicia?" interrupted Michael.

"Ye~s?"

"Are you going to get the green tea or not?"

Felicia squealed and rocketed off the counter, reaching the teapot and turning off the heat underneath. "Sorry!" she said cheerily. "I didn't hear it!"

"Probably because it's the same pitch as your chatter," said a familiar voice behind Shuhei.

Kaneko was standing there, dark circles under her eyes masked by flaring purple eyeshadow and dark eyeliner. Her hair was pulled up into a pair of spiky pigtails streaked with purple. She had on a neon purple tee with "Siouxsie and the Banshees" printed on it and, to his horror, black skinny jeans splattered with purple paint. Her arms were wrapped in white tape bandages, from her elbows to the space between her thumb and index finger. On her feet were a pair of clunky black boots with thick heels.

She was staring down at his pants. "Did we wake up on the same wavelength or something?" she asked grumpily. "Don't be a copycat."

Felicia was laughing squeakily. "You guys are matching!" she tittered.

Shuhei and Kaneko sent the lolita girl twin death glares, which only made her laugh harder.

"St–stop it!" she said, clutching her stomach. "It's just too perfect!"

Shuhei sighed and walked over to Michael. "What's on the menu?" the soul reaper asked.

Michael bit his lip and opened the refrigerator. "I'm cooking rice for the nattō and the okayu. Plus we have toast and cereal and stuff. I'm trying to pace us with the ethnic dishes and doing different stuff each day."

"You need any help?"

"I was hoping for advice for what to add to the okayu for more flavor. Right now, it's just rice porridge."

He pondered that for a minute. "If you want something that isn't as savory or salty as the nattō, I'd go with ginger. It's a fairly common topping for okayu."

Michael grinned. "Sounds good," he agreed. The redhead pointed to a cupboard. "We keep our fresh ginger up there. Add a reasonable amount, please. The okayu's in the electric rice cooker."

Shuhei nodded and grabbed some of the ginger, cutting it up with a knife. He loved the sharp smell. It helped him wake up the rest of the way.

"That's great," grumbled Kaneko. "Is the tea ready yet?"

Felicia got out a Japanese teacup and filled it with green tea. "Good morning to you, too, Rin-chan."

Kaneko grabbed it without a word and left the kitchen, sitting down at the only empty table in the dining room.

Felicia sighed and got out the rest of the teacups and put them on a tray with the teapot. "Rin-chan's not much of a morning person," she apologized. "She sleeps in late a lot during the summer because she doesn't have to be anywhere until the afternoon."

Shuhei frowned. "But what about yesterday? She was home all day."

"She didn't have any appointments yesterday," replied Felicia. "She dyes and cuts hair at a salon, but only for people who schedule appointments with her. She's really good, but her services are kinda expensive, so there are days when she can just stay home. She doesn't set the prices, ya know, that's the salon owner's doing."

"Huh," said Shuhei, taking a sip of tea. "What's the name of the salon?"

"Scissor Abuse."

Shuhei half choked, half spewed out his mouthful of tea. "Are you kidding me?"

Felicia giggled. "That was pretty slapstick of you. And Scissor Abuse is considered to be the edgiest salon in Vegas!"

Shuhei grabbed a rag from Michael and mopped up the tea. "I can't imagine there are that many salons in a place like this in the first place," he retorted.

Felicia shrugged and skipped out the door, the teapot wobbling dangerously. The auburn haired human was oblivious to its precarious balance, but she managed to keep it upright nonetheless.

Balance… that reminded him of last night…

Kaneko did know he saw her scar, right? Would that be a problem?

He helped Michael finish and serve breakfast. He sat at a table with Dante, Mai, and Tristan. Apparently, you were supposed to sit with different people than your previous meal, so the people you talked to always varied.

While Shuhei and Dante were eating their nattō, Mai told them stories about the strange people she met working as a concierge. Tristan ate his okayu quietly and munched on a slice of toast.

"No, seriously!" said Mai. "He looked like a freakin' sumo wrestler! Except with a receding hairline and tourist clothes. It was kind of scary!"

"I don't get how people like you and sumo wrestlers come from the same region of the world," said Dante. "You're so skinny and small."

"Don't say that!" the Chinese girl scoffed, cleaning her glasses with her tank top. "I prefer 'small-boned'. And I'm still two inches taller than Felicia!"

"Whatcha sayin' 'bout me?" called Felicia from another table. She was seated with Alex, Amelia, Phoebe, and Nick.

"You're beautiful!" replied Mai, smiling. Shuhei noticed she had a habit of closing her eyes briefly when she smiled. Huh.

Dante gave her a doubtful look, but Mai and Felicia went back to eating, or in Felicia's case, chattering.

Shuhei looked over at the two other tables. Kaneko was sitting with Alison, Delaney, and Nadya. The last table had Michael, Carly, Gerard, and Leah.

Over the course of breakfast, most of the tables kept to themselves, but occasionally room-wide conversations started. Shuhei couldn't help being quietly amused by them.

So this is what humans are like. They're not too different from soul reapers. In fact, the people here were more like shinigami than most of the humans on the planet.

The biggest difference was the casual way everyone treated each other. Everyone called each other by the first name (Him included, but hey, these were locals and he would follow their customs. Kaneko's the exception for him, though.) without any titles, but they occasionally added a –chan or a –kun to the end, for the sake of Heritage Week.

And, he admitted to himself, the humans were more carefree and not as serious. Nadya and Dante came the closest, but with Dante it seemed he just waited until the right moment to say something witty, and Nadya was just selective. Shuhei could hear her and Kaneko making jokes about random things, saying strange combinations of words that made them chuckle.

"Come on!" Nadya was saying. "Do your Raisin face!"

Kaneko laughed and bent her head back, staring at Nadya with her eyes wide and her mouth open. After applause from the tall blonde, Kaneko snickered and said, "Now you try Me Gusta!"

Nadya groaned and made a strange face, furrowing her brow and sucking in the corners of her mouth. She crossed her eyes slightly.

Kaneko laughed out loud at that. "Nice try!" she said. "What's my challenge?"

Nadya smirked. "You just decided. Figure it out."

Kaneko looked puzzled for a moment, then squealed with triumph. She narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms, and stuck out her bottom lip slightly. "Challenge Accepted," she said in a cool voice.

Nadya grinned. "Congratulation's there," she said. "That one's so you."

Shuhei was thoroughly confused. What the hell were they talking about?

"Okay, that's enough internet speak," said Kaneko. "My face is tired."

Nadya nodded and took a sip of orange juice. "So, are Carly's lessons back on?" she asked.

Kaneko shrugged. "I guess. But all her stuff is from last year, so she'll probably need new riding boots at least."

Amelia, who had just returned from the kitchen, walked over to their table. "Maybe we should go shopping," suggested the teenager. "I have a date tonight and I need new clothes."

Kaneko groaned. "It's that time of year, is it?" she asked. "I guess so. All four kids, me, and… Derek. He hasn't paid me recently, and he could help with the boys."

"Are you kidding me?" cried Felicia, bounding over to the now-crowded table. "I'm the designer here! If you're going shopping, you could use my fashion sense!"

Kaneko rolled her eyes. "I suppose so. Just don't get in a street fight with Derek again. Black eyes don't look good on you."

Felicia giggled and bolted out of the room, leaving Kaneko to stare at Shuhei, who had been eavesdropping the whole time. "I don't know where you got your human clothes," she said to him, "But they might not be enough for your stay."

"Oh, no," he said humbly, "I'll only be here for a week, anyway."

Kaneko's eyes hardened. "That's too bad," she said icily. "I was hoping you would enjoy our hospitality for a bit longer."

Understanding what she was referring to, Shuhei tried to correct his error. "Oh, if you insist! I have some human money, so you guys won't have to pay for everything. I'll be ready to go in fifteen minutes," he babbled, walking out of the dining room as quickly as he could.

"We're leaving in ten," she replied flatly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!**

**I just tried to introduce a few routines and add some dialogue. They're not fighting hollows 24/7, you know!**

**When (if) you review, this chapter I'm hoping I could get your opinions on the characters. Who do you like? Who's too one-dimensional? Who's awesome? Who do you want to see more of? Less of?**

**Speaking of reviewing, I wanted to also thank those who favorited this story or added it to alert. And yes, I know exactly who you are. Three alert-ers and five favorite-ers (awesome vocabulary, no?) have yet to review.**

**Just putting that out there.**

**Once again, I apologize for the late update!**

**~Paradox**


	15. I Don't Find This Amusing

**Once again, sorry this is out late! I really should start writing them earlier so they get out on time...**

**Thanks as usual to TheGreatPumkin and AizheNi for reviewing. I love you guys.**

**I showed my sister my stats for this story, even though she makes fun of fanfiction (really, I don't know how we're related). She was impressed by the fact that I get hits from all over the world. So, I'm in a good mood.**

**Well, It would be nice if a few more people around the world would review, but I can't make you guys do anything. It still kind of hurts, though.**

**Let's get started with the chapter, shall we? Shuhei goes shopping!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, nor do I own any of the bands or video games I mention.**

* * *

><p>Shuhei trailed slightly behind the rest of the group, content to watch the humans interact with each other. Felicia, wielding a lacy white parasol lined with ribbons, was leading the way down the sidewalk, Carly right next to her. Behind them, Kaneko had Amelia on her right, talking about music, and Alex on her left, holding her hand and staring in wonder at the huge buildings they passed. Derek and Tristan followed next, talking about cars and motorcycles.<p>

How had Shuhei gotten caught up in all of this? The lieutenant's original plan had been to find the rogue shinigami, arrest her, knock her out of her gigai, and take her back to Soul Society.

Well, he had found her, all right. He'd tried to arrest her, too, but Kaneko seemed to forget about _that_ on a regular basis. As for the gigai, Shuhei hadn't even bothered. However accepting of change she may be, Shuhei knew she wasn't ready to leave her body.

All of a sudden, the group of people in front of him stopped.

They were standing in front of the entrance to a large building. Shuhei guessed it was some sort of mall.

"Here's our stop!" announced Felicia, closing her parasol and running up to the glass doors, which opened automatically when she neared them. How curious.

Shuhei caught up with the rest as they walked through the doors. Once inside, he turned around and saw the doors close behind them. Creepy.

"Here's how this is going to work," said Derek authoritatively. "I'm going to take Tristan and Alex shopping for summer and autumn clothes. Considering this is Las Vegas, there's probably not gonna be much difference this year. Rin and Shuhei can take Carly to get new riding shoes at the equestrian store. Felicia and Amelia, you two just try one shoes or something."

Felicia made an irritated noise and smacked Derek in the ribs with her parasol. "Don't make it sound so trivial!" she ordered. "Shoes are very important!"

"Here she goes again," said Kaneko, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "Quick," she whispered to Shuhei. "I'll grab Carly and you go for the elevator. We need to get out of here before we become subject to one of Felicia's fashion speeches."

That was good enough for Shuhei. He began to sneak away silently from the petite woman as she lectured about the significance of proper accessories, noting the pained expression on Derek's face as he was scolded.

Kaneko took the hand of the short, blonde girl named Carly and backed up slowly towards Shuhei, nodding whenever Felicia sent a glance her way or left an opening for backup when she felt she wasn't delivering her message clearly enough.

"…And that's the history of the sandal up until 1463," concluded Felicia. "Really, Derek, you need to take these things a bit more seriously! Hey, are you _yawning_?"

"I couldn't help it," replied Derek spitefully. "You're so damn _boring_."

Alex harrumphed and punched Derek in the shoulder. "Don't use mean words!" he commanded. "You like Aunt Felicia, Uncle Derek! Mama tells me not to use mean words around people I like!"

Shuhei noticed that Derek faltered slightly at Alex's choice of words.

"You should use the Japanese names this week, Alex," said Amelia. "Felicia is your Oba-san and Derek is your Oji-san." She frowned. "Oh wait, or is that grandmother and grandfather?"

"I'm not sure it was the best idea to call those two aunt and uncle in the same sentence," murmured Kaneko in his ear.

Hisagi snorted and turned around. Felicia and Derek were too distracted by each other to notice that he, Kaneko, and Carly were leaving. Their escape was only noticed by Amelia, who winked and went back to watching the lolita and the bar manager quarrel.

"Well, that was a clean getaway," said Kaneko once the three were out of earshot, falling into step beside Shuhei. "Thankfully, they can't go anywhere without bickering."

"Kind of reminds me of us, too," Shuhei added nonchalantly.

Kaneko sent him a quick look of alarm. "We're different," she reasoned. "They never argue about anything serious. It's just empty words to them." Her voice grew strained. "Unlike you and I. You're always talking about serious stuff."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he challenged.

Kaneko rolled her eyes. "You're such a _stiff_," she complained. "Does fun even exist in the Soul Society? I mean, _seriously_, dude!"

"Do you hear yourself?" he scoffed. "Who says 'dude', anyway? And for your information, I have plenty of fun when I go out with Kira and Matsumoto!"

"Oh, yeah? And who are they, exactly?"

"Lieutenants of Squads Three and Ten. You must have a pitifully short memory, considering you eavesdropped on my phone call with Kira!"

Kaneko pushed Shuhei to the side suddenly. "Wow," she said sarcastically. "You go out with your coworkers? What do you do, drink tea and kill people?"

Carly let out a little squeak at Kaneko's words. Shuhei was startled; he had almost forgotten about the preteen's presence.

"They don't _really_ kill people, do they?" she asked, brown eyes wide with fear. "Nee-san? You and Shuhei-Nii and the rest of Soul Society?"

"Yes," Shuhei said hollowly. "We do. Pray that you don't ever have to become a soul reaper, Carly. When you join them, you can never escape completely." He sent Kaneko an ironic smile. "Not even your Nee-san could leave us behind without a trace."

Carly whimpered and took a few steps away from the two shinigami.

The lieutenant felt a sharp jerk on his arm. "Don't you dare speak that way to Carly," Kaneko seethed. "She's an innocent, peace-loving little girl who loves animals and fairy tales." Her eyes were full of pure fury. "And now she's probably afraid of me. Thanks a lot," she spat, "you _asshole_."

"Well, it's not like I'm telling her scary made-up stories so she'll have nightmares when she sleeps," he replied bitterly. "As much as I love being a shinigami and protecting people, my life's not my own. If I had free will, I would probably still be in Soul Society, helping my division work on the Seireitei Bulletin instead of meekly following the head captain's orders and coming here." He glared at Kaneko. "You've made my life so _difficult_, Rei Kaneko. You don't even seem to understand what I'm doing for you."

Her gaze hardened even more. "Tell me, Shuhei Hisagi," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "What exactly have you done for me, besides _ruin_ my _life_? Oh, I'm so terribly _sorry_ that I've made things _difficult_ for you," she mocked. "Maybe you arresting me and telling me that I'll never see the people I love ever again makes up for all the _trouble_ I've caused you. Your life must be _quite_ irksome if I deserve to rot in prison for it. _Please_ excuse my insolence. I should never have–"

"I decided to help you," said Shuhei quietly.

Kaneko took a few seconds to process what the lieutenant said. "You what?" she asked.

The soul reaper sighed. "I'll see what I can do to help you spend a little bit longer with your family. Did I ever tell you that if the Soul Society finds out I lied to them, I'd probably get a harsher sentence than you?"

Kaneko looked stunned. She was about to reply, but Shuhei cut her off. "Sure, you broke one of the laws of Central 46. But after all that's happened in the past few years, Soul Society is quick to accuse its inhabitants of treason. If you can't trust three of the thirteen most powerful people there, who _can_ you trust?"

The black-haired girl backed down. "I guess I can sympathize with them," she said tiredly. "Trusting people makes me feel… weak. Just like them, I don't know who I can depend on."

"According to what you told me the other day, I don't qualify," he replied casually, trying to change the subject. "Remember? You slammed the door in my face."

Kaneko chuckled. Success. "The look on your face was priceless."

A cough interrupted them. Carly was standing about ten feet away in front of their destination, tapping her foot. "Are you guys done flirting?" she asked impatiently. "I want to get my supplies _today_, people."

Kaneko's smile was replaced by an annoyed frown. "Crap," she said to Shuhei. "She's reached her limit. Time to go buy her stuff."

With a sigh, Shuhei followed the two girls into the store, surrounded by boots, helmets, saddles, and other things too unfamiliar for a soul reaper to name.

* * *

><p>Rin was setting the pair of riding boots that Carly had finally chosen (after an hour of trying on pair after pair, not to mention the new bit, blanket, and helmet the eleven-year-old had picked out) on the checkout counter when she realized something that made her freeze.<p>

"Um, Shuhei?" she called, looking for the tattooed man.

"Yeah?" he answered. Oh, there he was, over by the tack.

"I've got a bit of a problem," she admitted.

Shuhei jogged over to the counter, his concern glaringly obvious. "What do you need?" he asked, blissfully unaware of the checkout lady's suspicious expression.

Rin stood on her toes, desperate to relay her dilemma without pissing off the store's employee. She leaned forward and whispered into Shuhei's ear, "When we left the others, I didn't have time to get my money from Derek. Do you have a credit card?"

Shuhei nodded and took out a black wallet. Rin glimpsed various types of currency, plus a dark gray card, which he withdrew between two fingers and passed it to her. "Soul Society has an international account for special situations," he murmured back. The man really was getting better at reading situations, she decided. Still, the woman behind the counter would realize what was happening.

"Thanks, honey," she said at a normal volume, winking and hoping that Shuhei would play along.

Thankfully, he did. "You're such a ditz," he replied, putting away his wallet. "You're lucky I always carry that around for you."

Rin grinned at him and handed the credit card to the woman, now looking a bit exasperated instead of angry. That was close.

The employee scanned the card, raised her eyebrows at something on her computer's screen, and gave the card back to Rin. She packed up their purchases into a few bags and set them on the counter.

Rin pocketed the credit card for now and turned to Shuhei. "Could you carry the bags, dear?" she asked sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes. There was no way he could refuse her request in public without looking like a jerk.

"Fine," he grumbled, grabbing the bags and walking towards the store's exit. "Let's get a move on and meet up with the others, if they're not still listening to Felicia rant about shoes."

Rin smiled and followed him out the doorway, motioning for Carly to follow. "Thanks for going along with that," she in the atrium of the mall. "People get offended easily in Vegas when you don't have the money for something if you're not gambling."

Shuhei looked down at her, slightly puzzled. "Is that so?" he asked. "I figured in a place where wealth fluctuated so much, the locals would get used to stuff like that."

Rin shrugged in response. "Not really. Everyone hates tourists already, not to mention people who forget to bring money when they actually have it."

"I see," he said quietly. "Where to now?" he asked. "We got Carly's stuff."

"I know this great store that specializes in punk band tees. They would go with your stuff nicely." Plus, there was this great Black Flag shirt she had seen in the window…

They had only been in the clothing store for twenty minutes and Rin had already picked out a bunch of shirts for her and Shuhei. Altogether, they had the Casualties, Flogging Molly, Black Flag, the Misfits, AC/DC, the Ramones, Bad Religion, Green Day, the Clash, Nirvana, Deicide, Rancid, and the Unseen.

"Okay, that's enough," snapped Shuhei. "I don't want to spend a small fortune on music merchandise."

"Get used to it," said Rin.

The girl at this counter was friendlier than the employee of the equestrian apparel and equipment store. She smiled cheerfully, making her lip piercing stand out more. "You guys find everything you need?" she asked.

The purple-haired girl scanned their numerous purchases with amusement. "Well, I certainly hope so, anyway. You might not be able to carry all this stuff."

Despite the checkout girl's prediction, she managed to fit everything into three bags, two of which Rin took, the third held by Carly.

"Thanks for shopping," said the employee. "So, Siouxsie and the Banshees?"

Rin grinned. "Siouxsie Sioux's a boss."

The other girl nodded in assent, and then she squinted at Shuhei. "Is that the Offspring logo?" she asked curiously. "It looks kinda different."

Shuhei gave an uncertain "sure" and turned around, walking out the door. Carly and Rin followed him out of the store and in the direction of the entrance.

"So what is it?" Rin asked suddenly, startling the other shinigami.

"What's what?" he countered evasively.

"The skull symbol on your shirt. It's not the logo that the Offspring uses; that one's glaring and the flames have a different shape."

"It's kind of hard to explain," Shuhei replied. "It's kind of a symbol of power, you know? We use it to remove souls from bodies or gigais." He held up his fist. "It's on my ring, you see? That way, I can leave my gigai easily or… force someone else out of theirs."

Ah. So that was it. "How convenient," she said mysteriously.

"Hey, Nee-san?" said Carly.

"What's up?"

"I see Felicia-Nee and Amelia-Nee walking out of a store." The blonde-haired girl pointed to a store opposite the one they were currently in front of.

"Great!" exclaimed Rin. "Let's meet up!"

She ran over to her best friend and whacked her with a shopping bag.

"Oi!" shouted Felicia. "What was that for?"

"Alleviating boredom," said Rin.

"That's fine," Amelia decided, "as long as it's not me."

Carly and Shuhei, who had walked like normal people, joined them. "Did you find what you needed, Amelia?" she asked.

The teenager smirked. "Most definitely," she said.

Rin looked up at the store's sign. It was a Nordstrom. She sighed. "Amelia, how much did you spend here?"

"Actually," Felicia explained, "We were just playing 'How Much Would a Wal-Mart Knockoff Cost?' instead of actually shopping." The auburn-haired girl giggled. "The women who work there weren't very happy about that."

"I still got some cute stuff at other places," added Amelia.

Rin gave her a stern look. "Are all of them up to code?" she questioned.

"Mostly," Amelia answered meekly. "It's summer, so weather should take priority over dress codes!"

"By the way," said Felicia, "Who was it you said were meeting tonight? Some kid named Ian?"

Rin frowned. "Wait, I thought you were dating Erik," she said in confusion.

Amelia rolled her eyes. "I dated Erik _months_ ago, dumbass. And yeah, his name's Ian."

"Last name?" Rin pressured.

The brunette teenager responded with a shrug. "I dunno," she said shamelessly.

"Make sure you find out, then," ordered Rin. "You can be such a tease, Amelia, but you should be a little careful. Just because I'm Forever Alone doesn't mean you need to flaunt all your boyfriends in my face."

"Harrumph," harrumphed Amelia. "I'm not a slut, you know."

"You get close sometimes," Rin teased.

Amelia stuck out her tongue and turned away, scanning the mall for the rest of the party. "Where do you suppose Derek is with Alex and Tristan?" she asked.

"Knowing them, they probably finished shopping a half hour ago and are in the arcade," prophesied Rin.

"Good call."

* * *

><p>Shuhei was getting tired from all of this shopping nonsense. When did it end? Why did so many stores look exactly the same? Why were the people manning the kiosks so freaking obnoxious?<p>

He changed his mind slightly when they arrived at the arcade.

The walls were lined with colorful machines. Screens flashed bright images and electronic music blared from every direction. There were also other game-like things too.

"Hey, there's Derek and Tristan playing air hockey," said Felicia. "I'll challenge the winner," she decided, marching over to the hockey table.

"She'll probably change it to play the loser if Tristan wins," grumbled Kaneko.

Shuhei chuckled in understanding. Sure enough, those two were soon facing off against each other while Tristan ran off to play with Alex.

The tall, blond man and the petite, auburn-haired lolita shared identical expressions of concentration. They slammed the puck back and forth with their oddly shaped devices.

The first point was scored by Felicia… on herself.

Swearing furiously, the brunette lost her focused aura and played instead with a wild and dangerous style. While it got her two points, it also lost her three and sent the puck flying off the air hockey table multiple times.

"Four–two," said Derek smugly, aiming another crisp shot.

Felicia sent him a death glare and Shuhei saw Kaneko move to her best friend's side. She whispered something in the human girl's ear, making her giggle.

Kaneko backed off and stood next to Shuhei, who was watching from a safe distance. Right as Felicia hit the puck, Kaneko muttered something under her breath. The puck's speed increased slightly, allowing it to squeak past Derek's hand.

This happened three more times, each occasion more obviously manipulated.

"How are you doing that?" demanded Derek to Felicia.

"Five–six," responded Felicia, grinning like a cat. "One more point and I win."

Derek growled and played more fiercely than ever, but this time the puck shot into his goal zone by itself. A look of realization lit up his eyes with anger, and he turned on Kaneko. "You were using kidō!" he accused. "You and Felicia both!"

The two girls smiled appreciatively. "Thanks for noticing," said Kaneko.

"That's cheating in my book! I can't believe you two, never bothering with rules, so long as you win!" yelled Derek angrily. At least, that's what Shuhei thought he said. When he had gotten angry, Derek had developed some speech mannerisms that Shuhei wasn't used to. He was dropping his r's and t's, as well as altering the pronunciation of his vowels.

"Why's Derek talking strangely?" Shuhei asked Felicia.

"Whenever we get him really mad…" began Felicia.

"He reverts to his British accent," finished Kaneko. "It's freakin' adorable."

So, the all-American boy wasn't actually American. How amusing. "Do you two provoke him on a regular basis?" he asked.

"Like I said," explained Kaneko. "British accents are amazing. And Derek's really cute when he forgets what country he's in."

The man in question was pacing around the air hockey table, muttering phrases that Shuhei didn't recognize.

"He grew up in London with his mum," added Felicia, "While his dad ran Fortune's Favor here. They moved to Las Vegas when he was sixteen. Rin was already working there as a bartender, but she never had to tell Mr. Blackwood her secret. Derek took over the job as manager at the same time I… arrived here. Rin hadn't talked to Derek before that, so he and I have known her for pretty much the same amount of time."

"I guess you weren't paying enough attention back at Fortune's Favor to notice," said Kaneko, "but there's a good chance Derek let his accent slip in whenever Felicia breaks something."

"It's the only reason I don't mind being a spaz," said Felicia. "No matter how irritating Derek is as a person, British accents are irresistible."

"Are you sure that's it?" teased Amelia. "Not his pretty face or his abs or his practically singleness?"

Felicia snorted. "Get real. The guy's a doof."

"Or like Rin so eloquently calls all idiots, a 'dum-dum'," added Amelia.

Kaneko narrowed her eyes at the teenager. "I can use whatever vocabulary I want," she said menacingly. "I'm a shinigami. You're fluent and Carly's pretty good with Japanese. So you should be able to tell: I'm a freaking _death__god_." Suddenly, the ominous atmosphere vanished and Kaneko gave Amelia a sweet smile. "And _you__'__re_ a dum-dum."

Amelia sniffed. "Well, _I'm_ gonna go play Pacman, thank you very much." With that, the brown-haired teenager stomped off to the dark blue game machine, inserted some change, and started fiddling with the joystick.

"I'm gonna go play that bubble-popping game," decided Felicia. "It looks like Tristan and Alex could use some assistance." She scampered off to help the two young boys play their game.

Derek had already stormed away to a shooting game and was playing with a little too much enthusiasm. Shuhei could hear him muttering, "This one's Felicia," or "This is Rin," before every shot.

"You wanna play Street Fighter?" asked Kaneko.

The male soul reaper frowned. "What's that?"

"A fighting game, obviously. I haven't played it in forever, but, well, you've _never_ played it."

"Should be a fair match, then," Hisagi said sarcastically.

Kaneko snickered. "You haven't seen me play."

True to her word, Kaneko was pretty evenly matched with him, once he figured out the controls. She was playing as some girl named Chun-Li while he was some guy named Ryu, as per Kaneko's recommendations.

As Shuhei became more adept at the controls, he noticed that Kaneko seemed to be improving, too. Her character was fast, rather than powerful, and seemed to fit Kaneko's style well.

As for himself, he figured out that Ryu was a pretty popular character because of his well-rounded abilities. He'd figured out some special moves that could be done through combinations of buttons, and he used that to his advantage.

Their health meters were about even, but neither of them had much left. Shuhei was winning, which felt pretty good, and he got a bit more confident at the controls, taking more chances and widening the gap in health.

Suddenly, Kaneko screamed, "LIGHTNING KICK!" and began mashing her kick button.

To Shuhei's horror, Chun-Li gave a rapid series of kicks that were too unexpected for him to block. He hadn't been paying attention to what she was planning, and he soon found his character beaten, his health meter at zero.

Mouth agape, he stared in shock at Kaneko, who crossed her arms and smirked at him. "Good fight," she said smugly.

"You were hiding that move all along?" he asked.

"I guess. It's actually one of her most famous moves, but since you've never played before, I used it as a secret weapon." She grinned. "You're not bad for a beginner, you know."

Alex, who had been watching the end of the fight, bounded up to Kaneko and hugged her legs. "Good job, Mama!" he said loudly, earning them a few raised eyebrows and disapproving looks from the parents of kids who were playing in the arcade.

Shuhei noticed Kaneko's chagrin, so he tried to take her mind off it. "Well, _someone_ failed to tell me all of the rules, so I don't think it counts."

The girl glared at him. He was pretty used to that look now. "It _so _does!" she said.

He shrugged. "Meh."

As he predicted, Kaneko smacked him on the back of the head and strolled over to Felicia, her social discomfort forgotten. The best way to make her feel better, he decided, was to make her a little angry. It took her minds off the things that really bothered her.

"Thanks for playing with Mama."

Shuhei turned to Alex, who was smiling shyly up at him. The lieutenant smiled back. "Thanks for being there for her," he replied.

"Huh?" said Alex, furrowing his brow in confusion.

Shuhei knelt down and looked the four-year-old in the eyes. "Rei loves you very much," he said to Alex softly. "And because you love her back, she stays happy."

Alex nodded, but Shuhei could tell that the child didn't understand completely. Well, how could he? Rei was a girl who had been through a lot of suffering and had only her closest friends and the children to keep her sane. The way she bottled up everything inside, pushing all her distress to a place where everyone, perhaps even herself, could ignore it.

Just like him, Shuhei admitted to himself. Although he might never find out why Rei was the way she was, he would still be able to relate to her.

Still, seeing that kind of self-inflicted misery was disturbing to witness. Was he doing the same thing to himself for the sake of others? Where would that lead him in the future?

Rei's future, he remembered grimly, was practically set in stone. And yet, as far as he could tell, she hadn't confided in anyone, not even Felicia. Was she that desperate to protect those closest to each other? How paranoid she must be, refusing to trust anyone not for her own sake but for theirs, keeping them at a distance so they wouldn't share in her anxiety and sorrow.

Trust…

She had told him that she didn't trust him when they first met, but now that Shuhei thought about it, whom _did_ she trust? Only he and Nick knew about her tightrope, Derek about her financial stability, and Felicia about her past. There wasn't a single person in which she confided everything about herself, maintaining a mask so people would never know what was really going on inside.

Just from watching her interact with her friends over the past few days, Shuhei hadn't paid much attention to how adept she was at skirting around subjects relating to her. Out of a sense of duty to Soul Society, Shuhei had overheard many of her conversations, not bothering to note the tiny manipulations she made to the direction in which the topic headed, always subtly turning it around when it got too close to home.

Shuhei could think of only one person that skilled in manipulation, and the notion terrified him.

* * *

><p>The migraine was back.<p>

Rin lost her concentration, her virtual racecar spinning off the track. "Looks like you win," she said brightly to Carly. She got out of the game's seat and walked over to the corner of the arcade, standing behind the claw game.

Hidden by the huge pile of stuffed animals, she went into a meditative position, embracing the explosion of pain in her head and trying to look beyond the dark spots blotting her vision.

Arcades were the absolute worst place to get migraines.

When she had looked them up, Rin had found out that many people needed absolutely no stimulation after their migraine hit if they wanted to stop the suffering. Carly had told her that one of her friend's moms got migraines, and she had to go lay down in a silent, dark room to recover.

The arcade was lit with garishly decorated video games, a different annoying soundtrack of music blaring from each one. Rin did her best to ignore them and tried to concentrate on the possibility of another vision.

The noise began to fade away, and everything went black.

_Her body was tiny. She was a small, powerless child dressed in a frayed, dark blue kimono, hiding in the bushes._

_A distant noise startled her, but she didn't move an inch._

_A group of boys about her age went running by, breathing hard and not looking back. Their expressions were terrified._

_She crouched lower behind the bush. If she jumped out, the boys would panic and someone might get hurt. But if she stayed, she realized, whatever they were running from might get her._

_Letting curiosity get the better of her, the black-haired girl stayed put, waiting for whatever had chased those Rukongai boys away._

_Her anticipation was unfounded, however, because a few minutes later another boy came into the clearing in the forest. Maybe they were playing some ridiculous version of tag, and this boy was it._

_His hair was dark, but she couldn't tell what he looked like because the small glade was dark from shadows. She could hear him gasping for breath, though._

_Deciding there was nothing to be afraid of, she popped up from behind the bushes._

_The boy, who had been looking in her direction by chance, screamed and almost fell over._

"_Don't be such a sissy," she ordered. "I'm just a girl."_

_The boy took a step towards her, then stopped. "It almost got me," he whispered. "I think it would've eaten me if–"_

"_What was it?" she questioned, her curiosity back in place._

"_A monster," he replied. "It's dead now, though. You shouldn't go over there, in case there's more."_

_She snorted. "I'm not a baby like you," she sneered. "It's probably nothing."_

_Ignoring the boy's increasingly frantic pleas, she started running silently in the direction he had come from, excited that something interesting was finally happening._

_The trees thinned out, and she was able to see the blue sky once more._

_Out in the middle of this clearing was a man– a shinigami, from his uniform. What was it called? A shihakusho. That was it._

_She had seen shinigami in the Rukon District before, but this man looked a bit different._

_For example, she had never seen one with a white–_

"Rei! Are you all right?"

Someone was shaking her. Rin cracked her eyes open and stared into Shuhei's. He looked frantic.

"You interrupted a very interesting dream," she replied, slurring her words slightly.

Shuhei glared at her and bopped her on the head. "You were convulsing. You're lucky I'm the only one who saw you back here. Otherwise, you'd be locked up in a hospital."

She was shocked. "As in, full body spasms? No way!"

The soul reaper rolled his dark gray eyes and stood up. Apparently, she herself had slumped to the ground, and Shuhei had been crouching. He held out his hand to her emotionlessly and helped her up.

"Sorry about that," she apologized, laughing nervously.

"You had me worried," he said coldly. "You should take better care of yourself."

A little hurt by his attitude, Rin brushed herself off and squeezed out of the little nook, her hand brushing his.

To add insult to injury, Shuhei's hand automatically jerked away when they made contact, as if he was repulsed by her.

Pushing the thought away as she went to find Felicia, she told herself that she was just letting her paranoia get the better of her. She thought that it wasn't hitting her as often recently, but it was always hiding in the back of her mind. Its presence forced her to hold onto her suspicions, no matter how unfounded.

This was a harmless case, but Rin saw significance in the fact that it was back. Hopefully, acknowledging that her paranoia was still there would be enough for it to leave her alone.

Unfortunately, Rin's thoughts were interrupted by a strange sensation. It was familiar, but as usual, carried its own uniqueness.

The aura of evil was no different, though.

There was a hollow nearby.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Just when you thought these people were enjoying normalcy, a hollow shows up. That's just great.**

**So, what'd you guys think of this chapter? I wanted to include a bit on how Shuhei gets used to being a part of the World of the Living, but as always, duty calls. Can't wait to see what I make up for the next chapter!**

**Once again, I apologize for updating late. I don't want this to become a regular thing, but as the chapters slowly grow longer, the amount of time it takes to write them increases exponentially. I am a frequent victim of "the block", you see.**

**How did you like the stuff I put in this chapter? Specifically, the memory? Are you confused?**

**For reviews this chapter, I'd like everyone (well, there's only two people who review consistently, but whatever) to include their opinions of what they've seen through the flashbacks in this story. I made what I thought was a very obvious reference in one memory quite a few chapters ago, but no one realized its significance.**

**For the flashbacks, EVERYTHING IS SIGNIFICANT. This is a mystery, remember, so you don't want to miss a big clue!**

**Please review, everyone!**

**~Paradox**


	16. Something About Blood

**Hello, everyone! Happy holidays!**

**I'm really sorry that I skipped a week, but hey, so did Bleach. Kubo-sama didn't publish a new chapter last week, so neither did I.**

**Actually, I was just really busy! So sorry!**

**Thanks to TheGreatPumkin for reviewing as usual. Also, thanks to anyone who has favorited or alerted. I would appreciate it if you guys would review once, though. I ain't feeling the love.**

**This chapter was written and posted during the holiday season, so I tried to make it a little heartwarming at times. I hope you find it entertaining and intriguing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, but I did just record a twelve episode marathon on TV. I can't wait to watch!**

* * *

><p>"Damn," said Rin. "Damn, damn, <em>damn<em>."

"I feel it too," said Felicia. She looked at her taller roommate. "What's the plan?"

"No time. Let's just all go so we don't get separated from the kids."

Felicia nodded and grabbed Amelia by the wrist, whispering something in the teenager's ear. Amelia called out to Carly to follow and began walking out of the arcade.

Derek made eye contact with Rin from across the arcade. She jerked her head in the direction of Alex, who was sitting near the tall Brit, and turned around, searching for Tristan. Derek picked up Alex and exited the game-packed room, trying to keep his pace casual.

"There's a hollow. I should go take care of it." Shuhei's voice sounded blank and professional.

Rin whirled around and stared into the other shinigami's eyes. "We're all going because we're a team," she said. "Have you seen Tristan?"

The tattooed man shook his head and started walking purposefully out to the exit.

Rin sighed in exasperation and scanned the arcade. Tristan had a habit of totally disappearing from her radar, which she guessed was partially because he could completely hide his reiatsu. The seven-year-old was nowhere to be seen, either.

Rin felt like it was a good time to panic.

"Shuhei?" she called, cursing inwardly at the quaver in her voice.

It was enough to get the lieutenant's attention, though. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Tristan's not here."

"You sure."

"Positive," she answered.

"He probably left with the others," dismissed Shuhei.

"No," she said anxiously. "I watched everyone else go. He wasn't there."

"If you stand here worrying," said Shuhei coldly, "You won't be able to kill that Hollow. It won't exterminate itself."

Rin felt her heart skip a beat. "The _hollow_," she gasped with horror, running out of the arcade and making no attempts to be discreet like the others.

She heard another set of feet pounding on the floor, and looked back to see that Shuhei had followed her. Good. Maybe he had finally broken out of whatever rude mode he'd gone into.

With the skills of a parkour expert, Rin dodged the groups of people, vaulted over chairs and tables, and ran down the escalator railing. She leaped over an indoor planter and jumped on top on the edge of the fountain, using the edge to propel her off.

Using every bit of spiritual energy inside her, Rin searched desperately for Tristan. Knowing how independent the boy was, he might have gone off to search for the hollow before the rest of them had left the arcade.

As she sprinted towards the automatic doors, Rin calculated that they wouldn't open fast enough for her to get through unless she slowed down. How inconvenient.

Taking a chance, the soul reaper barreled on, her bravado rewarded when the doors opened for another person, who leaped out of her way as Rin rocketed by.

"That was disturbingly close to hohō," said a voice behind her.

Rin did a one-eighty and came face-to-face once again with Shuhei. "Quit doing that," she demanded.

"Quit what?" he replied.

"Sneaking up on me, obviously!"

"It's kind of hard when you're running through a densely populated area," he retorted. "Maybe you should quit letting your guard down so much."

She glared at him. "You sound like Alison after beating me in a match."

Shuhei sighed and looked around. "We don't have time for this, okay? We need to kill that hollow."

Rin growled. Well, Shuhei was playing the mature one. But he was right.

"There's the others," she announced, pointing to their left, where she could see Felicia, Derek, and the kids in the distance.

"And there's the hollow," said Shuhei grimly. He reached into his pocket, but his hand was empty. "Dammit!" he cursed.

"What?" she asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"I don't have any soul candy with me. If I leave my gigai, it will look dead."

"That would be bad," Rin decided. An idea brought a smile to her face. "Why don't you watch the kids while I handle the hollow?"

Shuhei rolled his eyes and started running towards their companions. Rin followed, and soon the hollow came into view.

It was an odd looking one, with a circular face and a stick-thin green body. Its hands curved into wicked sharp claws, and it crouched on all fours.

Tristan was standing ten feet away from it.

"TRISTAN!" she shrieked. "GET OVER HERE NOW BEFORE YOU DIE!"

The blond boy gave her a cool look and jogged over, unconcerned about the giant monster. "I was curious," he said, shrugging.

Rin glared at him. "Don't worry me like that," she said harshly. "You could have gotten killed!"

Tristan snickered, turning his face from seemingly angelic to impish. "I was hiding my presence completely. That thing didn't even know I was there!"

"You're grounded."

"Aw, man."

Rin turned away from the sulking boy. "Let's make this as quick as possible," she said to Felicia and Derek. "Give it your all. I want Shuhei to be impressed." She paused, then added, "Plus, I get tired of their monologues explaining how their powers work. It's so dull."

The two nodded and shuffled the children behind a large metal sign. She saw their heads pop up over the top. Rin sighed. If they were going to expose themselves like that, then there was no point of hiding in the first place.

"Time to show you what you're dealing with!" she yelled, half to Shuhei, half to the hollow. The hollow opened its mouth and roared.

She sprinted towards the monster, summoning as much of her spiritual energy as she could and storing it in her legs and fists.

Rocketing forward at a great momentum, Rin jumped high and smacked the sole of her right shoe into a lamppost, giving her enough height so she landed a foot on top of a stone platform, immediately leaping to the top of a nearby stop sign. She dug her feet deeply into the sign and sprang off, right towards the hollow.

Rin directed her spiritual energy into her left fist, pulling the arm back for a punch. When she reached the hollow's head, perfectly level with it thanks to her maneuvering, she gave the hollow a solid left hook, slamming the monster sideways from the impact. She followed with another punch, this time with her right fist. When that bone-jarring punch made contact, the hollow's mask began to split.

The hollow let out a deep bellow and backhanded her. Its hand was huge, wide enough to make contact from her knees to her upper ribs. She silently thanked her extreme luck that she felt nothing break as she flew off to the side from the hollow's hit.

She hit the ground on her side, taking the brunt of the blow with her left forearm. Good thing she'd put on some tape this morning.

Even so, Rin felt her ribs bruising as she struggled to her feet. Not again.

The female shinigami sprinted back towards the monster, undeterred by the searing pain in her side. She would attend to that later.

"Backup!" she hollered, hoping that Felicia and Derek would figure out what to do.

In fact, they did, Derek performing a spell to trap the hollow's feet and Felicia crying out the name of a hadō, sending a bolt of blue lightning towards the hollow, which Rin herself had to avoid.

"Sorry!" called Felicia. "Finish it off with a special move! Try the Offspring technique!"

"Good idea!" yelled Rin, turning back to the unsteady hollow. She sent her reiatsu towards her feet and jumped high, flipping midair. The hollow looked up at her, exposing her target. The girl brought a resounding, bone-crunching kick down on the hollow's face. It shrieked and its mask crumbled, killing the monster.

Rin dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch.

"Offspring technique," repeated Rin smugly. "'Hit it right between the eyes'."

And then the consequences of her actions kicked in.

"Crap," she squeaked as she felt her knees weaken and give way.

* * *

><p>Shuhei had been shocked into paralysis by Kaneko's demonstration of her abilities. It seemed like she had been pushing the boundaries of human ability, bordering on using hohō and hakuda like a soul reaper.<p>

This girl had killed a hollow without using her zanpaku-tō. Hell, she had killed one in a gigai. Although it hadn't been an easy kill, she had defeated it in a very short amount of time. He was impressed, but at the moment, he felt frozen.

That feeling of immobility fell away as soon as he saw Rei crumple to the ground.

He sprinted over to the girl and dropped to his knees. The lieutenant shook her shoulders and said her name loudly, but he knew that she had blacked out.

"Oi! Rei! Wake up!" he ordered. When she didn't respond, he sighed and adjusted her position to one more comfortable. Rei's lower legs had been pinned under the rest of her body, so Shuhei moved her until she was lying down normally. He drew her head onto his lap and smacked her face lightly a few times, hoping to revive her.

His efforts were greeted with a strong uppercut to the chin.

At least that meant it worked.

"Welcome back, Rei," he said tiredly. "And, um, _ow_."

"Don't be such a sissy," she ordered.

"Says the girl who fainted after killing one measly hollow," he retaliated.

"Don't call it that!" Rei snapped.

"What, the hollow?"

"No, dum-dum. _Fainting_." She shuddered. "You make it sound so weak and princessy."

Shuhei raised an eyebrow. "What, would you rather I say _swoon_?"

He couldn't help but grin at Rei's indignant reaction. Honestly, it was so easy to piss her off.

The girl spluttered for another minute or so before her words resembled a language Shuhei recognized. "–Can't believe you," she was saying. "Why would you– you're just so– It's not like–"

"Stop making a fool out of yourself," he said laughingly, unable to wipe the smirk off his face.

"You know fully well that swooning sound even worse!" she roared.

"You're right," he said thoughtfully. "You faint at the sight of terrifying monsters, but you _swoon_ at the sight of handsome men like me."

"As _if_," she scoffed. "You're not _that_ attractive."

"That's not what you thought when we met," he said suggestively.

Rei responded with a light slap.

"Don't flatter yourself," she replied, squinting up at his face. "I mean, you're upside down right now, so that might have an effect–"

"You're just afraid to admit that I'm hot," he interrupted with a smirk.

Slap. "Let me finish," Rei ordered calmly.

"Fine, fine."

"I'll try to be as objective as possible in my examination. Hmm, nice facial structure. Strong mouth, usually straight and slightly frowning. How sad. Your eyebrows are nice, but at the same time, since you're always frowning they just make it worse. Your eyes…" Rei grabbed the back of his head and jerked, bringing his face closer to hers.

"What about 'em?" he asked casually.

"They're intense," she said softly.

Shuhei quirked an eyebrow. "Are they, now?"

"…That, and your irises are way too small."

That threw him a bit. "Um, what?"

"You have gray eyes like me," said Rei. "Problem is, you can't tell they're gray unless you get _reeeeaally_ close, 'cause your irises are abnormally tiny."

"I'll try to not be offended."

Rei smiled. "However, the scars draw the focus away. They're nicely placed, you know? It's lucky that your eye didn't get damaged too."

"You think so?" said Shuhei pleasantly. "I got them from a hollow in my early days as a soul reaper." He approached the next subject cautiously.

"So, what about your scars?" he asked, doing his best to sound as natural as possible. No way would Rei squirm out of such a direct question.

"Well, I don't have any on my face, so the effect doesn't work the same," she replied easily, but Shuhei had noticed her flinching slightly at his question.

"Not really what I meant."

"I've had this one for as long as I can remember. I usually cover them up." Rei pointed to the X-shaped scar on her chest, hidden by makeup today. Its reiatsu was still recognizable. "That way, people pay more attention to my tattoos."

"Is that so?" replied the male shinigami thoughtfully. "I haven't really seen any clearly."

Rei shrugged, a difficult feat to accomplish while horizontal. "I've got this thorny vine tattoo that goes from my left hip halfway down my thigh. Oh, and I have something in kanji on my back."

"So, they're not exactly in highly visible areas under normal circumstances," he concluded.

"Exactly," she replied happily. "Your tattoos, on the other hand, are glaringly visible. I mean, the stripe's pretty cool– it balances out the scars some. My problem is the 69."

Shuhei frowned. "What's wrong with it?"

Rei sighed. "You're so oblivious. I can tell that you got that tattoo for a specific reason, and it has nothing to do with the number's suggestive nature."

"Oh. You're right."

The girl nodded in satisfaction. At least, she tried to– her head was still in Shuhei's lap. "Well, back to a previous topic, about your face…"

Shuhei groaned. "What now?"

Rei pouted. "I was just going to say that the tattoos combined with the scars work in your aesthetic favor," she said, clearly miffed. "They make you look all bad and stuff."

"Bad in an attractive way or bad in a scary way?"

The female soul reaper attempted another shrug. "Your mileage may vary," she reasoned. "Personally, I think they look rather badass, when put with your perpetual frown and your taste in human clothing."

"I do _not_ frown perpetually!" he replied hotly.

"It would probably be a good idea not to scowl when you say that," she quipped.

Shuhei was about to go off on another tangent, but he resisted the urge to argue with Rei. "The important part is if badass is considered attractive," he reminded her.

Rei grinned. "Well, duh. I'm a sucker for bad boys."

Startled by her straightforwardness, Shuhei didn't respond.

Rei then added, "But it's not just about looks. You're too mature and rule-following for my taste." She wrinkled her nose. "Argh, like Nick. I cannot imagine that boy ever getting a tattoo, though." She frowned slightly, a barely noticeable dip in the corners of her mouth. "Then again, he's been dating Delaney forever…"

That confused him. "What does Delaney have to do with Nick being a nice, intelligent, mature guy?"

Rei's silver eyes flashed with unease for a millisecond, but she responded without missing a beat. "She's an actress," she said simply.

"I see." That was all Shuhei could muster up for a reply.

As the two fell into a comfortable silence, Shuhei leaned back so he could stare up at the sky like Rei was doing. The girl shifted upward slightly, the back of her head resting on Shuhei's stomach.

"Didn't want to use your crotch as a pillow," she said lightly, causing him to chuckle. "Yeesh. I don't really want to use your abs either."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Too hard. What kind of hellish training do they put you guys through?"

"You mean, 'us guys'," Shuhei corrected. He could almost see the questioning look that was probably on Rei's face, so he clarified. "You have to remember to consider yourself a shinigami too," he reminded.

Shuhei felt Rei sigh. "I suppose so," she said quietly.

All was peaceful and serene for about a moment.

"What the _hell_ are you two doing?" demanded the high-pitched voice of Felicia.

"You two are just lying on the ground!" said Derek.

"In the middle of a street!" Felicia added.

"If it was such an issue," said Kaneko with irritation, "Why didn't you both come over here right away?"

"We thought that Shuhei was working some sort of healing kidō on you or something," Derek explained. He gave Shuhei a look. "Did you?" he asked accusingly.

Shuhei performed the horizontal shrug. "Probably did some stuff subconsciously," he decided. "She's perfectly fine now."

"I'd prefer to hear that from Rin," replied Felicia.

"It's cool; I just surpassed my limits again," Kaneko assured. "Nothing serious. My legs should be able to work within ten minutes, if Shuhei actually did anything."

"Of course I did," said Shuhei. He reached over to pat her head. "She really needed some fixing up there."

Kaneko swatted his hand away. "Stop it," she chuckled.

"I'm not plotting to mess up your hair," he replied good-naturedly.

"Good."

"The hollow took care of that for me."

Rei let out a real laugh this time, clear and strong. Shuhei felt her head vibrate slightly.

"Hey, that reminds me," she said.

"What of?"

"I have two back-to-back appointments this afternoon. Wanna come with me to Scissor Abuse for the day?"

Shuhei sighed. "Do I really have a choice?"

"Nope."

A noise of disgust startled Shuhei and Kaneko out of their private universe.

"Ugh," said Felicia, who was standing next to them. "Would you two stop flirting already? I mean, seriously! What were you guys talking about before we got here?"

"How come you two are acting so friendly?" asked Derek. "Where's the animosity?"

"Oh no, your world is a lie," mocked Kaneko. This granted a snicker from Shuhei.

"We don't have to argue all the time," he said. "I suspect that it's because my maturity balances out her hotheadedness, wouldn't you agree?"

Kaneko slapped him lightly on the knee. "You probably shouldn't bring that up, because we got into immature arguments about maturity. That kind of makes it a paradox, and I think paradoxes are scary and mess with your mind."

"Ergo, you think they're cool," he reasoned.

"Precisely."

"HELLO?" yelled Felicia. "That's getting on my nerves! Stop acting so buddy-buddy!"

"For once," said Derek, "Felicia's right. You guys have only known each other for a few days. So, what gives?"

Shuhei shrugged. He was getting better at doing that, considering he hadn't moved. "Bonding experience?" he offered.

Felicia harrumphed and leaned down, grabbing Kaneko by the ankles. "Time to go!" she announced.

"What the hell, Felicia?" cried Kaneko as the lolita dragged her across the ground. "We're in public!"

"You've been in public all day," Derek retorted.

Shuhei stood up and started walking next to Felicia, who continued to drag Kaneko down the street by her ankles. "So, what's the plan now?" he asked.

"We were just planning on getting lunch," replied Derek, who was on the other side of Felicia.

"You two going on a date?" teased Kaneko. The effect was lost because she was obviously having trouble with being pulled like a suitcase. Shuhei glanced at her face, surprised that she wasn't blushing or visibly embarrassed by her situation. In fact, she seemed rather calm.

Shuhei decided to go with it.

"I'm sure the kids will want to go get fast food," said Felicia.

"Right," said Kaneko, wincing as she went over a small rock. "Watch it."

"Let's head over to the food court, then," decided Derek.

* * *

><p>Rin had learned long ago to not be mortified by the escapades she and her friends underwent. She had to remind herself of just how strange the world was constantly. That helped put things in perspective.<p>

For example, being dragged by the ankles into a mall was perfectly normal when compared to killing a monstrous, corrupted soul with her body.

Then again, the former was a direct result of the latter, so she would shut up now.

Apparently, Shuhei had been thinking about something similar.

"Shouldn't you let Kaneko walk now?" he asked Felicia.

"If she could walk, why would I subject myself to this labor?"

That ought to confuse Shuhei plenty. "What do you mean by that?"

"My legs are out of commission at the moment," Rin said cheerily. "I went past my limit again."

Shuhei looked down at her sharply. "What limit?"

"The limits of the human body, obviously," said Derek.

"She should recover in about a half hour," added Amelia.

Felicia had been even clumsier than usual while walking backwards, so she had turned around and stood off to Rin's right, dragging her by her right ankle while Amelia pitched in with the left.

As for the other children, Carly was playing a game on her cell phone, Tristan was sulking behind Derek, and Alex was chuckling nonstop. He had been giggling ever since they reentered the mall.

Perhaps it was linked to the fact that he sat down on Rin's stomach and was hitching a ride.

"Mama, you're like a backwards wheelbarrow," he said happily.

"Yeah, and you're crushing my diaphragm."

"What's that?" Alex asked innocently, his black eyes wide and curious.

Rin sighed. "Nothing important," she said wearily.

"The heart's important," Alex said suddenly.

"What was that?"

"Nick tried to tell me about it. All I remember is it keeps us alive, right? And there was something about blood."

"Don't talk about blood in a public place, honey," Rin said automatically.

"But what's most important is that the heart is where love is."

"And what do you know about love?" she asked softly.

Alex dimpled at her. "I love you most, Mama. I love Aunt Felicia and Uncle Derek a lot too, and Tristan and Carly and Amelia. I love all the people we live with, and I love my friends. Your heart is for friends too, right? Not just family?"

"Of course," she reassured. "Wow, that was a pretty long speech for you, buddy. You love a lot of people."

"So do you, Mama."

At this point, the other members of the group had started their own conversations, so Rin was the only one who heard Alex's next question.

"Do you love Shuhei, Mama?"

Rin's jaw dropped. She was speechless.

Luckily, Alex elaborated. "Well, if you love with your heart, and you hold your friends in your heart, that means you love your friends. Is Shuhei your friend?"

Rin relaxed. Oh, he'd just phrased his question awkwardly. Wouldn't be the first time.

"I don't know," she responded truthfully. "I only met him a few days ago, but I've spent a lot of time with him since."

"Then he's your friend," Alex decided.

"Whatever you say, honey. Oh, and when was the last time I mentioned how smart you are?"

Alex giggled. "I don't remember."

"Well, you're my little genius."

And to Rin, this was pretty much true. Yes, Alex usually acted like any other four-year-old boy, but this conversation was proof of his abnormal wisdom. It was astonishing that he could make so many associations with the heart.

_Ah yes, the heart. But what of the heart's illusion?_

* * *

><p>Shuhei glanced down at Kaneko again as they got to the food court. She had stopped talking to Alex, who was still bouncing on her stomach.<p>

Her face was ashen.

Yeah, Kaneko was pale. But now, she looked white with shock. Her lips parted briefly, and she let out a frightened squeak.

Shuhei stopped in his tracks and grabbed Felicia's shoulder. She and Amelia immediately stopped dragging Kaneko.

Derek lifted Alex off of Kaneko and Shuhei knelt down beside her. "What happened?" he asked softly, doing his best to keep Kaneko calm.

"I-I heard s-something," she whispered.

Shuhei grasped her hand and leaned down. "What?"

"A voice…" she said, barely audible. "But not really a voice. More like a thought that wasn't really my own."

"Do you know what it said?" Shuhei asked.

Kaneko gave him the now-perfected horizontal shrug. "It didn't make any sense," she said, her voice slightly stronger now.

"Anything specific?" he asked, trying not to push her too much.

"Heart. I remember something about the heart," she said clearly. The female shinigami propped herself up on her elbows, and Shuhei backed off.

"Is that all?"

Kaneko started to nod, but she shook her head instead.

"What else?" he inquired.

"Something about an illusion."

Lunch had been a fairly simple matter. Shuhei and Derek had practically carried Kaneko to the closest table in the food court. The children were as oblivious as ever, and Felicia went off with them to get them their food. Derek took Shuhei's order as well as Kaneko's and went to his own line.

Shuhei tried to get Kaneko to talk more about what had happened, but the girl had clammed up. She wouldn't talk about anything supernatural. She managed to evade those topics. Shuhei never called her out on it, though, because she managed to distract him every time she changed the subject. The subtlety was infuriating. He kept forgetting what he wanted to talk about.

Once the others came back with food, Shuhei felt a little better. The conversations now had a reason to be normal (to not freak out the kids) and everything was going smoothly.

Shuhei was at the end of the large table, sitting across from Alex. The four-year-old was eating these things called chicken nuggets. Shuhei didn't know where the nugget was located on the chicken, but he assumed it was okay. The kid was practically inhaling them.

The others had all pretty much finished up by now. They had gotten up en masse and headed to the trash bins, leaving the lieutenant with Alex.

"Thank you, too," said the boy suddenly.

"What for?" asked Shuhei, frowning at Alex in confusion.

"Remember when you told me that I make Mama happy?" he began.

"Yes?" Shuhei was starting to get suspicious.

"You make her happy too. Thank you very much."

Hisagi raised an eyebrow. "You're welcome, I guess. What makes you think I make your mother happy?"

Alex looked down at the table and went silent for a moment. "I don't remember her laughing or smiling like that." He looked up at Shuhei, his black eyes sparkling. "But now I have. Mama's pretty when she smiles."

That was interesting. "Are you saying she doesn't smile very much?"

Alex gripped his chair and swung his feet. "She smiles at me. But she stops as soon as she looks away or thinks I'm not looking."

Shuhei stared at the kid. He was that observant for a preschooler? Alex really was something special. "Well," he said cautiously, "I hope she smiles more from now on."

The boy nodded gravely. "She will if you're here," he decided.

Shuhei made a neutral noise and sipped his drink. Soda wasn't too bad. Well, it wasn't like sake, but it was pretty good. Sweet and bubbly.

"Mama loves you," said Alex.

Shuhei simultaneously choked on his drink and spewed it out of his mouth. He stared at the kid in alarm and coughed violently. "What did you say?"

Alex shrugged. "You're her friend, right?"

Realizing he had misunderstood the boy, the lieutenant relaxed a little. "Maybe. I've only known her for a few days."

"Do you like her?"

Shuhei frowned. "Sometimes yes and sometimes no." He shrugged and raised his hands palms-up in a gesture of helplessness. "She's infuriating and interesting. She's pretty opinionated on some matters, but she cares about her friends and family a lot. I respect that." He scowled. "But she's also rebellious. Quite rebellious."

Alex cocked his head in bemusement. "What?"

The soul reaper sighed. "She has a problem with authority."

The boy pursed his lips, and then asked, "Do you think she's mean?"

That surprised Shuhei immensely. Here he had been imagining Kaneko spoiling this boy and always treating him kindly. "Um, maybe a little. Why?"

Alex scowled. "The other kids say so. Some of Tristan's friends, Carly's friends, Amelia's friends. Oh, and some of our house neighbors."

"You mean the people who live with you?"

Alex nodded. "They don't really talk bad about her, but they complain sometimes. And they use big words." His frown lightened a little and morphed into curiosity. "I remember a few of them. What does 'morbid' mean?"

Shuhei was taken aback. "Um, nothing nice," he managed.

Alex leaned over the table. "What about… sah…sast… sadit…" he seemed to be having trouble pronouncing the word.

"Take it slow," Shuhei advised.

"Sadistic?"

Shuhei slammed his hands down on the table, startling Alex. The four-year-old's eyes were wide and confused.

"That's enough," the shinigami said in a low, clear voice. "This conversation is over."

"But, you never answered my question!" the boy complained.

"And I'm not going to," growled Shuhei.

"Not _that_ one, my other one! Do you like Mama?"

"Fine," said Shuhei. "I like her. Despite her faults, I like her."

Alex smiled. "And she likes you. She told me." He clapped his hands together. "So that makes you friends!"

Shuhei rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

"That means you're in her heart, and she's in yours," the child announced. "That's where your friends are."

"Okay then," Shuhei said tersely. "Your point?"

"Mama says the heart is for love. I think that means she loves everyone in her heart. That means she loves her friends, like you."

Ah. So that was it. "I get it," said Shuhei. Then a though occurred to him.

"Has she mentioned any other kinds of people who are part of the heart?" he asked the boy.

Alex pondered that for a minute. "I think Mama said that the heart makes bonds. So anything that uses the heart means that anyone involved gets a part of Mama's heart. Even when she uses the heart for bad things."

That explanation stumped Shuhei a little. "So, are you saying that it's not just the people she likes in her heart, but the people she dislikes too?"

Alex smiled and nodded. "Mama says that emotions come from the heart. That means hate and anger right next to love and happiness." He stared at Shuhei intently, an odd look in his deep black eyes. "But since Mama says that the heart loves everyone it's connected to…"

Shuhei finished the boy's sentence in a daze. "That means that no matter how horrible, she loves everyone she hates."

The child looked at him solemnly. "The more she hates someone, the bigger the part of her heart is that they hold."

"Therefore," added Shuhei, feeling lightheaded, "The more she loves them."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hmm, I wonder what that could mean...**

**Well, another chapter come and gone! I hope it was worth the wait!**

**As usual, please please review! I got half as many reviews last chapter, and it took me twice as long to update! I hope that won't be a pattern, as my self confidence is notoriously low.**

**I hope everyone's had a great Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Yule/Whatever-the-hell-you-celebrate-because-I-can't-think-of-any-more-sorry-I-left-you-out. Oh, or happy winter break, possibly. Hope I haven't offended anyone.**

**Cheers!**

**~Paradox**


	17. Entering a Metamorphosis

**Crap.**

**I'm SO sorry that I haven't updated in so long! My plan from the beginning was to be a reliable writer who updated regularly, but I guess that just can't happen. This hiatus started right before finals week, but I'm ending it now. I'll try to update sooner after this.**

**Actually, my plan had been to update every week that a new Bleach chapter came out, and Kubo-sama went on a three week break, so I guess I'm SLIGHTLY justified.**

**But not really.**

**I should just get to the point, shouldn't I? Thanks to AizheNi and TheBigPumkin for reviewing the last chapter. I hope you two haven't given up on me! I love you both!**

**I present you with a new chapter today and hope everyone will forgive me for not announcing this break.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, and don't sue me for using these business names. I made them up and any similarity to a real life establishment or company is purely coincidence. You hear that, ACTA?**

* * *

><p>Shuhei walked to the right of Kaneko, taking in more sights of Las Vegas as they headed towards their destination.<p>

… Scissor Abuse.

Seriously, what kind of a name for an establishment is that?

He lost his train of thought when he saw Kaneko stumble slightly. The soul reaper automatically reached out a hand to steady her, but then withdrew.

"You feeling all right?" he asked. "All of your systems are back on board? Muscles are cooperating?"

"Stop nagging," Kaneko said lightly. Despite her tone, Shuhei thought he saw her grimace a little as she said it.

"You're not the boss of me," he replied. "You really shouldn't treat your superior officer that way."

"Forgive me," she said sarcastically.

As they crossed a street, Shuhei looked away for a second to check for cars. Kaneko used that opportunity to catch him off guard.

The lieutenant felt a punch nail him in the side. He looked to his left at the culprit, who had crossed her arms and refused to make eye contact.

This was his chance to get her back. Shuhei nonchalantly curled his left hand into a fist. He reached over and knocked her slightly on the ribs in retaliation.

The last thing he expected was for Rei to gasp and clutch her side. Instincts kicked in and Shuhei grabbed her before the girl's knees gave way.

"Who's wimpy now?" he asked halfheartedly, placing Rei's right arm around his neck and shoulders and sliding his arm around her waist to help her balance.

"Sorry about that," Rei said softly. "Just because I can walk again, doesn't mean I should." She smiled up at him self-deprecatingly. "Nick says that the full recovery time for going over my limit is four hours."

Shuhei stopped walking for a moment and stared down in shock at Rei. "It's only been an hour!" he scolded, his voice full of worry.

"Oops. Well, I can't just skip work. If I could, we would have gone back to the house with the others instead of walking to Scissor Abuse."

"I see your point," Shuhei responded quietly. His grip around her tightened. "But tell me first, is there anything else wrong? I can probably help."

Rei shrugged. "Well…" she began, her tone uneasy, immediately putting Shuhei on alert. "That damn hollow bruised the entire right side of my ribcage."

Guilt washed over Shuhei. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry I hit you," he breathed. "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. It's a miracle that nothing broke, though, so I'm thankful."

He stared at the girl in amazement. Her face had slipped into an emotionless mask and she kept her eyes on the ground, walking precisely. It was obvious that it took a great deal of her concentration to remain upright.

"One question," he said slowly. "Why does this happen to you? Why now?"

"Technically, that's two questions."

Shuhei groaned inwardly and poked her on her good side. "Just answer the question."

"Which one?" she replied snarkily.

The lieutenant stopped walking, forcing Rei to a halt. "Look," he said in a clipped, measured voice. "I'm not sure what the hell your problem is, but I'm tired of you always managing to slip away and avoid answering questions. I've started to pick up on it more quickly now, but you still always manage to trick me into changing the subject."

Rei leaned on him and sighed in defeat. "I just want people to leave me alone," she said softly.

That was startling. "What do you mean?" he asked in surprise. "You enjoy being with your friends and housemates. You're good with kids. You laugh and you talk and you do pretty much whatever the hell you want and have a grand time doing it." He pulled her around and yanked up her chin so she made eye contact with him. "You don't seem like the loner type to me."

Rei stared back defiantly, her silver eyes flashing. "Just because I can tolerate being around them doesn't mean I love everyone," she said defensively.

"I never said you did."

The girl let out a frustrated noise and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, she was back in control. "It takes me a while before I'm comfortable around new people, okay?" She glared at him before he could reply. "And no, I'm not shy, if that's what you were about to ask. I just can't get along with most people."

"Then what makes your friends so special?" he challenged.

Rei's eyes grew cold. "One of the first requirements for joining the Carson House of Ankh is that you can't be normal." She turned abruptly and started walking down the sidewalk again. "I can't handle normal," she added.

Shuhei caught up to her, anticipating what the girl had probably forgotten. Predictably, her wobbling knees started to cave in midstride and Shuhei slid his arm around her waist and put hers around his neck again. She didn't complain.

"Could you elaborate?" he asked quietly,

"Let's just say that everyone in our house has a skeleton in their closet. Each of those skeletons is unique." She sent him a quick look. "Of course, I'm talking metaphorically," she added hastily.

"Of course," Shuhei assured.

Kaneko went quiet, then said something that Shuhei didn't quite catch. Alarmingly, it sounded like she had mumbled, "For the most part."

Shrugging off the weird feeling developing in his stomach, Shuhei changed the subject. "So what was that you called that house before?"

"You know that the building belonged to Leah's family for a long time? Well, it's the Carson House."

"Well, yeah. That much is obvious. What was the second part?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "We sometimes call it the House of Ankh for whatever reason. Leah's Egyptian, you know. The ankh was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for eternal life or something similar to that. It was a nod towards Leah's heritage, plus we saw some symbolism in the idea that even though people move in and out, their memory is kept alive by those who remain. In essence," she said ruefully, "we live forever."

"Was this named before or after your housemates found out about your little condition? Because I'm sure they would've found it rather ironic."

Kaneko glared up at him. "Nice job, Shuhei," she spat. "For once, I tried to explain things as specifically as possible, and you say something like that. Don't you have _any_ sensitivity?"

Shuhei was taken aback. "I-I'm sorry," he stammered. "That made me sound like a total asshole, didn't it?"

She elbowed him under the ribs. "You _are_ an asshole," she corrected.

Hisagi tried to not let the hurt show through. "Well, not all the time," he argued.

The corner of Kaneko's mouth turned up in a smile. Crisis averted.

"Touché," she replied.

Shuhei tried to go back to whatever they had originally been talking about, but he found that he couldn't remember a thing. Damn that Kaneko and her way of worming out of everything.

"Whenever I'm around you," he said, irritation coloring his voice, "I always lose my train of thought."

Kaneko responded by shifting the weight of her arm around his neck to make him more comfortable. "Sorry," she said impishly.

"So, when are we going to get to your workplace?" he asked.

The female soul reaper tore her gaze away and scanned the streets. "It's twenty feet in front of us," she said smugly. Kaneko started walking faster, pulling Shuhei along instead of using him as a support.

* * *

><p>When she stopped, they were in front of a very large commercial building. She gestured towards the glass doors, but Shuhei didn't move. She glared at him and tugged on his shirt. "What are you waiting for?" she asked impatiently.<p>

"…I thought you said it was called Scissor Abuse."

Kaneko snickered at the tone he used. "Yeah, that's right."

Shuhei pointed up at the huge purple logo on the front of the building. It read "Metamorphosis" in a clear font, a black butterfly clinging to the last letter. With the purple accents on its wings, it reminded him of a hell butterfly.

Kaneko glanced up at the sign. "Oh," she said in a calm voice. "That's the company's name." She wriggled herself out of Shuhei's hold and walked up to the door, pulling it open and waiting for him. "Scissor Abuse is just the hair salon."

Shuhei shrugged and followed the girl inside, hoping she was strong enough to stand by herself.

The inside of the building was magnificent, a large open area ringed with a few different establishments. The upper floors were visible because of the balconies. It looked like there was clothing up there.

"This is the Metamorphosis atrium," Kaneko lectured. "This building is a sort of miniature mall with only Metamorphosis-owned establishments and retail. All except the ground floor is the Metamorphosis department store, Alchemy. Down here we have other various places, including Scissor Abuse, Paint-Mask, Puncture Wounds, and Raven=Writing Desk."

Sure enough, those names were on signs surrounding them. "What exactly are those places?" he inquired. "And why do they have such strange names?"

"You already know that Scissor Abuse is for hairdressing, ne?" she replied.

"Yeah," he said cautiously.

"Well, whoever's in charge of the establishment gets a creative license to choose the name," she explained. "The manager decided on 'Scissor Abuse'. As for the other locations, Paint-Mask is part beauty salon part cosmetics store, Puncture Wounds is body jewelry, and Raven=Writing Desk is a tattoo parlor."

Shuhei frowned at the last one. "I guess they're all rather straightforward names, except for the last one." He gave Kaneko a look of utter confusion. "What the hell does Alice in Wonderland have to do with tattoos?"

"The quote is, after all," said a voice Shuhei didn't recognize, " 'Why is a raven like a writing desk?' My favorite answer was always 'inky quills'. Get it? Inky? Tattoos?"

A young man with a lean build, tons of tattoos and piercings, and brown hair that covered one eye appeared behind Kaneko. He grinned widely and stuck out his studded tongue, patting Kaneko on the head with a gloved hand.

Kaneko groaned. "Don't subject my friends to lame puns, Ben. The only one who likes them is Rachel." She grabbed the guy delicately by the wrist and tossed it to the side, freeing her head.

The stranger chuckled. "At least I went for something Alice. I know you love it."

She shrugged and spun around, facing the other guy. "That's much appreciated. But still lame."

Shuhei cleared his throat. "Friend of yours?" he asked politely.

Kaneko gave him a wicked grin. "This is Matthew Benton. He runs the tattoo parlor, if you couldn't tell."

Shuhei held out his arm and shook the tattooist's hand. "I'm Shuhei Hisagi."

The other man smiled. "It's always an adventure to meet Rin's friends. Call me Ben."

Kaneko tapped Ben on the shoulder. "I've got an appointment soon. Could you show Shuhei around a little and then send him back to me?"

"No problem. By the way…" Ben glanced at the two others, raising an eyebrow. "What's with the coordinating outfits?"

"Coincidence," said Shuhei and Kaneko in unison. The latter wrinkled her nose and started walking towards Scissor Abuse.

"I'll talk to you guys later," she said over her shoulder. She opened a dark glass door and slipped inside Scissor Abuse without looking back.

Shuhei heard a chuckle and turned back towards Ben. "Sometimes, I really don't get that woman," said the tattooist.

"She is rather odd," agreed Shuhei.

"So, you wanna start the tour of Metamorphosis?"

"Sure."

"Great," said Ben, flashing a crooked smile. "We'll start right here." He gestured up and around, indicating the atrium.

"Metamorphosis started out as a sort of department store directed towards more unusual individuals. I guess Vegas was a good place to begin, then. Anyway, over time the divisions between the different sections became more pronounced, and they divided into different places. Alchemy's the only place that's been here since the beginning. It has a wide range of styles of clothing, including lolita, surprisingly. There used to be more mainstream stuff downstairs, but it didn't sell as well."

"So when did the places down here open?" Shuhei asked.

"A beauty salon opened first. It eventually split into two different locations, named Paint-Mask, which focuses more on cosmetics, and Scissor Abuse, which focuses on hair styling. The same sort of thing happened with Puncture Wounds and Raven. At first, it was just one body art establishment." Ben placed a fist over his heart and stared purposefully off into the distance. "But we gained our independence!" he cried. "And once I took over as the manager, I dubbed it Raven=Writing Desk!"

"Ah," replied Shuhei.

"A few years have passed, and we've gotten a good amount of customers! Sure, many people ask about the name, but it's more of an inside joke than anything. Those who get it find the name hilarious, and those who don't find it artistic." Suddenly, Ben became serious and drew his fist up to his chin, the smile disappearing. "But there are a few who don't like it at all," he said softly.

"Well, I like it," said Shuhei, baffled by the tattooist's mood swing.

Ben didn't appear to have heard him. "However, I will ignore them and forge ahead!" he said dramatically, punching the air. "With my talented and dedicated staff, we will make it in the unpredictable world of business and deepen our everlasting friendship! No matter what hardships we face, our bonds will never weaken! We will be propelled into glory by the power of–"

"Shut up, idiot," said a cold, female voice.

Shuhei glanced over at the entrance to Raven=Writing Desk and saw a girl with a bob of electric blue hair and a black tank matching Ben's standing in the doorway. She straightened her headband, cracked her knuckles, strode up calmly to the two of them, and grabbed Ben by the ear, pulling him towards the tattoo parlor.

"Ow ow ow ow!" muttered Ben, flailing helplessly. "Stop it, Chloe!"

"Shut the hell up, you worthless manager," said Chloe lowly. "I'm sick of your overdramatic crap. Get back to work."

"But whyyyyyyy?" Ben complained. "You work for meeeeee. You're not supposed to give your boss orderrrrrrrrrrrs…"

Chloe yanked his ear. "_I said shut up_."

Ben yelped, but a glare from the blue-haired girl reduced it to a whimper.

Shuhei was frozen to the spot, dumbfounded by the scene taking place before him. "Did the temperature just drop ten degrees?" he said meekly.

Chloe started and looked back at him with surprise. "Oh, sorry," she said, letting go of Ben. The tattooist dropped to the floor.

Chloe strode up to Shuhei and held her hand out professionally. "Chloe Watts, employee of Raven=Writing Desk. I'm considered a reasonably talented tattoo artist and also take care of keeping the place from gathering too much dust."

Shuhei shook her hand bemusedly and stared down at her. "So you, uh, do the cleaning too, I take it?"

Chloe nodded briskly. "Someone has to when the manager's a pile of shit," she said coolly.

"Don't go saying mean things about me, Chloe~" said Ben from the ground. He had dragged himself to their feet, startling Shuhei immensely.

"Ah!" said Shuhei in alarm. "What the hell?"

Ben raised an arm weakly up towards them. "Don't listen to her, Shuhei," he said faintly. "She can be a huge bitch–"

Chloe stomped on the hand that was still on the ground, keeping her face straight. "Stay on the ground where you belong, dumbass," she said coldly.

"I can have you fired for that," Ben threatened weakly.

"You could, but you won't," she replied bluntly. "Now get to work already."

Ben grabbed Chloe by the ankles, his eyes brimming with tears. "I can't!" he cried. "I promised Rin that I would give her friend a tour!"

Some of the harshness left Chloe's blue eyes, which were a much lighter shade than her hair. "I see. Well, you'd better not break your promise, then. I hate assholes who do."

Ben rose to his feet unsteadily. "Whatever you say, Chlo," he slurred.

"Be back by two."

Shuhei gave Chloe a hesitant smile as the blue-haired girl walked back to the tattoo parlor. She gave a smug one in return.

"Let's make Raven one of our last stops, then," Ben decided. He motioned energetically for Shuhei to follow him as he set off towards another venue. "Let's explore Puncture Wounds!" he declared.

Shuhei groaned inwardly. So Ben was one of _those_ kinds of people. This would be exhausting.

* * *

><p>"Head down, honey," Rin ordered, grabbing her red pair of scissors meant for her left hand. The brunette girl in the chair complied, totally at ease with her usual hair stylist.<p>

"So how's your summer been, Cameron?" she asked her customer, maintaining the aura of the stereotypical chatty hairdresser.

"Oh, nothing out of the ordinary," the girl replied absently. "I went to a party last week, but it was kind of boring. The house belonged to some jock, you know?"

"Cammie, you weren't drinking, were you?" Rin asked in alarm, almost dropping the black scissors in her right hand.

Cameron snorted. "_Please_. I don't need to be drunk to enjoy myself."

"But you just told me you didn't," Rin pointed out.

"Touché."

"Just be safe, okay? You're a good kid. Don't make dumb choices."

Cameron made eye contact with Rin through the mirror. "I can take care of myself," she said patiently. "You're my hairdresser, not my mother."

"Point made," said Rin. "If I was your mother, I wouldn't let you dye your hair today. Besides…" She put her palm on the girl's head and forced it down. "As long as I'm styling your hair, you should listen to my instructions. Head down."

Cameron grumbled a little but didn't argue.

"So, what color were you thinking?" Rin asked, trying to get back on task.

"Well, we already agreed on the layers, so I guess maybe just purple tips."

Rin nodded appreciatively. "Nice and subtle. It'll look sophisticated with your natural hair color."

"As sophisticated as crayon-colored hair could ever be," Cameron jabbed.

"Watch your mouth, or I might accidentally cut off an ear."

"Well, you holding scissors in both hands is frightening enough. Maybe I should just call you Edward."

Rin snipped a strand of hair angrily. "I'm ambidextrous, dear. Don't underestimate me."

"That doesn't automatically make you good at cutting hair," countered Cameron.

"You teenagers are all brats. And stop snickering, Cammie. It makes your head shake. I see a bald spot in your near future."

The girl just laughed.

* * *

><p>Puncture Wounds was a surprisingly elegant place, considering the name and all. It was very clean and organized, with the metal music at a low volume and the staff friendly.<p>

The manager was a woman named Vix who had piercings on her ears, nose, eyebrows, and mouth, and was extremely bubbly. Her fire engine red hair bounced as much as she did, a little bundle of happiness and fun. Her employees were a bespectacled strawberry blonde girl named Riley and a tough looking guy called Spike. Yes, Spike. Riley was on the quiet side, but she went out of her way to be polite and kind. Spike, on the other hand, spent a great deal of time brooding and knitting.

"How are my mittens coming, Spike?" asked Vix. "Damien and I are leaving for Alaska in two weeks!"

"I just don't get why you'd want to go to the snow in summer," Spike said sulkily.

"Ah, to get away from the terribly hot August days of Las Vegas!" cried Ben. "To escape the scorching heat of the Nevada desert and travel to the frozen tundra! A world entirely different from our own, full of the wonders of nature! You must be–"

"Can it, tattoo boy," said Spike, giving Ben a death glare.

Vix giggled. "Aw, leave him alone!" she said, reaching up to pat the two men on the head. "We're all friends here!"

Shuhei smiled and started to edge toward the door. No matter how normal they were, he still felt isolated from these people. "Well, we should be moving on," he said awkwardly.

"Indeed!" agreed Ben. "Let's head over to Paint-Mask!"

"It was nice to meet you," said Riley, smiling shyly.

"We'll give you a discount on a piercing if you come again!" shouted Vix as the soul reaper opened the door.

"Okay, okay," he said meekly.

"We're running behind schedule," warned Ben, pushing him across the atrium.

After a chorus of goodbyes, the two set off towards the beauty salon. There seemed to be quite a few people milling about. The glass walls were tinted a pale pink, but the inside was hardly girly. From the look of the decor, it had a punk/gothic vibe, actually.

As Ben opened the door with a flourish, a tall young woman with a sage green pixie cut ushered them in.

"Hi, and welcome to Paint-Mask," she said smoothly. "Although I have no idea what two young men are doing in a cosmetics store."

"We're here for some lipstick and concealer," Shuhei said with a straight face.

The green haired girl snorted. "Yeah, right. I recognize a tour when I see one." She walked up very close to Ben, her high heels allowing her to tower over him. "What mischief are you up to now, you little snot?"

"This is a friend of Rin's," Ben explained. "She has an appointment right now, you see."

"Aha. In that case, I'm Lindsay. I'm the manager of Paint-Mask, nice to meetcha."

Shuhei shook her hand. "Shuhei Hisagi."

"So what do you do for a living, if you don't mind me asking?"

He shrugged, trying to think up something on the spot. "I'm a… lieutenant."

Lindsay raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" She saluted him. "Always nice to meet a man of the military. You on leave?"

"Yeah," he replied, amused by the white lie.

"So…" began Lindsay. "How long have you known Rin?"

_Uh oh. She must be one of those extremely curious people. Proceed with caution._

"Not long," he said vaguely.

"Where did you two meet?"

"At her other job."

"You mean the bar?" asked Ben in surprise.

Shuhei nodded. "She was working then and I ordered a drink from her."

Suddenly, something changed a little in Lindsay's brown eyes. She looked… energized.

"So how did friendship spawn from that, may I ask?" she said casually.

"Umm," Shuhei mumbled, racking his brains for ideas. "I was on military business."

Lindsay crossed her arms. "And how exactly does that involve a bartender?"

"I informed her of a loss," he replied, glad that he was basically telling the truth.

"Oh, someone else in the service? A friend of Rin's? Or a relative?"

Before he could stop himself, Shuhei kept going on telling the truth. "Her boyfriend."

In a flash, Shuhei realized he had said the wrong thing. The entire establishment had gone utterly silent, and all of the employees were staring at him in bewilderment.

Lindsay, on the other hand, looked utterly delighted. "Oh, that's _interesting_," she said devilishly. "Rin, the girl who claimed to be forever alone."

Shuhei groaned. "I probably shouldn't have told you that."

"Oh, my heart goes out to Rin!" said Ben, his eyes brimming with tears. "She must be heartbroken about it! She never even told anyone about him in the first place!"

"Stop with the fake sympathy, Matthew," said Lindsay in disgust. "You stopped being funny awhile ago."

"But…" said Ben, tears rolling down his face, "I taught myself how to cry!"

"You bore me," she said succinctly, turning back to Shuhei. "So what happened after that? Did you, like, comfort her at her most vulnerable, giving you two an automatic bond of friendship?"

Shuhei backed up slightly. "Not exactly," he said awkwardly. "Things just happened, I guess."

"I tried to get her off topic," said Ben, sighing, "But she can't be distracted."

Lindsay's eyes sparked with interest again. "Are you and Rin dating?" she asked excitedly.

"No!" Shuhei said defensively, making an X with his forearms. "You people are too quick to assume stuff! It drives me crazy!"

"Methinks he doth protest too much," stage-whispered Ben to Lindsay, making her giggle.

"Indeed so, Mister Benton," she replied, smiling smugly at Shuhei.

The lieutenant scowled at them. "You're wrong, okay? It's not like that. We've only known each other for three days."

Once again, Shuhei managed to shock everyone in the room. He heard quite a few gasps, but utter silence followed. This time, Lindsay and Ben gaped at him widely. Ben opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no sound came out.

Finally, Lindsay managed to squeak out a sentence. "That's… unusual," she managed.

Shuhei quirked an eyebrow. "How so?" he inquired.

Ben cleared his throat. "Well, you're only the third person that Rin's brought here."

"The other two were her best friends," Lindsay added. "Felicia came here for the first time about five years ago, and the tall blond guy three years. What was his name?"

"Derek," said Ben.

"Ah yes, Derek. He seemed rather reluctant, as I recall," murmured the makeup artist, striking a philosophical pose. "Maybe a little nervous?"

"I don't really remember much of that day." Ben scratched his neck. "He hasn't come back since, so his face is kinda fuzzy."

"Hey," Shuhei interrupted. "Was there a point to this conversation? If not, I'd like to move on, Ben."

"Oh, that's right!" said Lindsay said, snapping her fingers. "We've never met any of her other friends. She's mentioned them a few times, but she's never brought them with her."

"And the two that came were already pretty close to her," joined in Ben.

That struck Shuhei as odd. Then why would Kaneko drag him here?

"That's a juicy bit of gossip," said Lindsay, smiling in anticipation.

"Just don't go spreading around any rumors, okay?" compromised Ben.

Lindsay held her hand over her heart. "I would _never_," she proclaimed. "And if I do, let me be struck down by a lightning bolt fueled by God's wrath as soon as I do so."

"But you're an atheist," said Ben, frowning in confusion.

"Harrumph," said Lindsay, pouting and crossing her arms. "You found my loophole."

Ben glared menacingly, the effect enhanced by his tough appearance. "Promise me sincerely," he ordered.

Lindsay sighed. "Fine. I swear not to spread any… exaggerated info about Rin lest I suffer from Rin's wrath." She glanced hopefully at Ben, but his face was blank.

"…In excess," she added. "And we all know she has plenty."

Ben still didn't respond.

"And I'll serve as Raven's maid service for a week!" she added desperately.

Ben shrugged. "Sounds fine with me," he said noncommittally. He turned on his heel and started walking towards the exit.

That startled Shuhei. It seemed really out of character for someone like Ben. He jogged a bit to catch up to the tattooist. "Hey!" he called out. "What was that about?"

"What do you mean?" asked Ben cheerfully, the threatening demeanor evaporating.

"Well…" said Shuhei glancing down at his feet. "You kind of changed a bit at the end there. Why were you treating Lindsay like that?"

"I'm engaged to her younger sister," he said simply.

Shuhei stopped in his tracks. "What does that have to do with it?" he asked, more confused than ever. "Shouldn't you be nice to her, then?"

"No, that's polite. You can either be polite or friendly. Being polite leads to a slightly distant, formal relationship between the brother- and sister-in-law. Being friendly leads to genuine friendship, casual and normal. And the closer friends are, the more they can antagonize each other without it affecting their relationship."

Shuhei mulled that over and started following Ben again. "You two seem a little less than kind to each other, though," he said.

Ben shrugged. "That's the way some relationships are. It really applies to how women are in that family. She's actually nicer to me than my fiancée," he added.

Human relationships were baffling, Shuhei decided.

* * *

><p>Ben pressed a button on the wall, making two metal doors slide open and reveal a small space. Shuhei figured it was some sort of elevating platform.<p>

The two of them went in and Ben pressed another button. "It's pretty nice having an elevator in Metamorphosis," he said.

The doors opened again, and suddenly they were in a hallway lined with glass. If he walked straight forward, Shuhei would reach the railway and presumably look down at the atrium on the first floor. But he was currently preoccupied with what was on the other side of the glass.

Clothes. So many clothes. Completely separate and distinct outfits on mannequins, and even more clothes on hangers. They seemed to cover the entire color and style spectrums, with no sort of organization or pattern whatsoever. Spray-painted onto the glass from the inside in a graffiti style that managed to still look elegant, the word "Alchemy" stood out in golden letters.

Ben pulled open a huge glass door and stepped inside, Shuhei following suit. He could here orchestral music playing presumably throughout the store, but it sounded quite unusual.

"Lucy always plays VSQ," said the tattooist absently.

"Who?" asked Hisagi.

Ben stroked his chin, thinking hard. "I think this is a Linkin Park song," he clarified. That didn't help Shuhei at all. "A cover of Numb, maybe?"

"Can we just meet the people and leave?" asked Shuhei desperately, and the other man nodded.

"Heeeeeeeeeey," called Ben loudly, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Are there any attendants on this floor?"

"Oh!" said a faint voice to Shuhei's right. A model-thin young woman with white blonde hair in an elegant knot appeared between a few voluminous racks of clothing. She smiled slightly and waved at them. "Hello!" she said in a soft, breathy voice. "It's nice to see you, Ben! And who's that with you?"

"This is Shuhei Hisagi. He's an…" Ben sent Shuhei an appraising look, "…_acquaintance_ of Rin's. She asked me to show him around."

The girl giggled. "Well, it's wonderful to meet you," she said sweetly. "My name is Jane."

Shuhei barely acknowledged her greeting. He was too busy staring at her outfit.

It seemed to be a heavy, Victorian-inspired period dress of a dark green, contrasting sharply with her white skin and hair. The corset was, for some reason, over the bodice _and_ made out of brown leather, as were the strange pair of gauntlets on her forearms. She also sported a pair of bronze goggles resting on her forehead and a golden pocket watch hanging around her neck. He could see a heavy brown pair of working boots right underneath the ankle-length hemline.

"Hi…" he said distractedly.

"What's on your mind?" she asked. Ugh, women were too perceptive.

"What are you wearing?" he blurted suddenly, wincing at his own tone.

Jane chuckled. "Oh, this? I'm wearing steampunk today. Rachel from Scissor Abuse requested it."

"Oh," he replied, not knowing what else to say.

The blonde gestured to her bell-shaped skirt and whispered conspiratorially, "I'm actually not wearing a petticoat. It's really just a metal frame!"

Ben snorted and crossed his arms. "Now why would you do that?" he asked sarcastically, obviously preparing for an unusual answer.

Jane's face was flushed with excitement. "I'm wearing _trousers_ underneath!"

Ben facepalmed. "And I suppose there's a dress shirt under the bodice, too."

The pale girl's eyes shone, but Shuhei could tell she was looking somewhere beyond this building. She was out of it. "The sleeves are rolled up and hidden under the ones on the dress," she said distractedly. "I could change from wealthy lady to working class in seconds! It's fantastic!"

"Uh huh," said Shuhei, for some reason feeling like he shouldn't interrupt her conversation with herself.

Suddenly, Jane snapped out of it. "Wait, what were we talking about?" she asked in a daze, her voice retaining that airy, high sound.

"This is Shuhei," said Ben slowly. "Tell him who you are."

Jane smiled radiantly. "I'm Jane, okay? I think I mentioned that. I'm the assistant manager of Alchemy. I love trying new fashions and making new friends!"

"She's also a pushover and rather absent minded," murmured Ben quietly.

"So who's the manager?" asked Shuhei. "I'm kind of in a hurry."

Jane swatted the air condescendingly. "Oh, pish posh," she said lightly. "Her name's Lucy, and she's waaaaaaay too uptight. She's probably hunting for matchless shoes right now two floors up."

As if on cue, a young woman with dark curls wearing a pencil skirt and a stylish teal top opened an employees only door, carrying a mountain of mismatching shoes.

"Hooraaaaaaaay!" shouted Jane, lifting up a foot and punching the air energetically.

Ben gave her a high five. "Nice call, J!" he praised.

The dark haired woman groaned and peered at them from around her stack of boots, high heels and flats. Her eyes narrowed. "Jane, honey, what on earth are you wearing now?"

Jane giggled. "You like it? Rachel found me the accessories."

"You'll scare away customers. Like that attractive Japanese man next to you."

Shuhei raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" he asked, surprised by her frankness.

"Oh, hey!" said Jane, as if she was seeing him for the first time. "I couldn't tell he was Japanese!"

"You couldn't tell by his name or his face?" Ben deadpanned.

"What do you mean?" asked Jane, furrowing her thin white eyebrows. "Do many Japanese people have tattoos and scars?"

Ben groaned and facepalmed again while Jane skipped off to a rack of clothing, probably to check for price tags or something.

"Well, Rin's got scars and tattoos, but I'm not sure your hypothesis is correct," said Lucy.

Jane tripped on the metal stand for the clothing rack. "Rin is _Japanese_?" she asked in wonder.

This time, all three of them facepalmed.

Lucy walked over to her employee and helped her up. "Maybe if this dress wasn't so bulky, you would have an easier time getting around," she scolded. "Do you really need a bustle in the back? It's probably throwing you off balance!"

Jane swatted the air again. "Nah, it's fine," she said casually, straightening her skirts. "But you mentioning Rin reminds me… I have to take her a CD I burned for her last week!"

"Okay!" said Ben. "Go get it from the employee lounge and come back right away. After we stop by Raven, we'll go to Scissor Abuse."

Jane grinned and scampered off, slightly encumbered by her huge dress.

"What's with _her_?" asked Shuhei lowly to Ben.

"She's just really naïve and ditzy," the tattooist answered. "She's also pretty trusting, but she's not dumb."

"I see. She seems okay."

* * *

><p>Rin waved to Cameron as the girl walked out the door, hair freshly cut and the tips dyed a flattering purple. Mission accomplished.<p>

"When's my next appointment?" she asked the nearest hairdresser, who just happened to be her friend Rachel.

"Well, it's one fifty right now. I think it's Vera Jannis, but I'm not sure." Rachel poked her in the stomach. "Check your own appointments, lazy."

Rin laughed and took a good look at her friend. Intelligent, short, and music-loving, with a Jewish nose and lovely red hair. It had been auburn naturally, but Rin had dyed it a dark red brown near the roots that faded to gold to the tips. She had it in a loose, untied braid resting on her left shoulder. That meant her right ear was exposed, showing off her new earring that Riley had made. It connected a piercing on her earlobe and one on the side in the cartilage, a chain through them and circling down, supporting the Star of David swinging from it. It was a newer look for Rachel, but Rin had definitely noticed a personality change when Rachel's older brother joined the army.

The music in Scissor Abuse changed from one of Rachel's favorite Beatles songs to the soundtrack from Sweeney Todd. She giggled at the irony.

Rin was about to grab a broom so she could sweep up her station when a wave of dizziness overtook her. _Oh no, not another memory_, she thought to herself, gripping the salon chair.

First her vision went completely black. Then the tastes and smells of the hair salon weakened to nothing, followed by the feel of her hand on the cold chair and the floor under her feet. Lastly, the sinister music faded away, leaving her totally numb.

Then the memory began, but it was unlike the others.

Firstly, crickets started chirping faintly. She shivered in the cold air, the unusual lack of warmth telling her it was night automatically. The fragrance of distant flowers drifted into her nose, along with the scent of the grass. She also detected a metallic smell.

She waited for her vision to return, but the world remained black. She knew something was wrong immediately. She knew she was outside, and somehow she knew that there was light. Maybe there was something wrong with the memory?

"So how was it?" asked a boyish voice suddenly, startling Rin. She wasn't alone.

Rin realized without being able to see that she was very small, a child again. She knew it for sure when she heard herself speak, though she had no control over her words.

"It was a success," she said quietly in a childish version of her voice. It reminded her of one of her other memories she'd witnessed recently, though she had a feeling this event had occurred later.

"Well, that's good to hear," answered the boy, but she could tell by his light tone that he really didn't care one way or another. Or did he? This was weird.

"I should probably go home," she answered, her feet moving through the long grass by themselves.

A small, cold hand latched onto her arm. Instinctively, she lifted up her head to look at his face, but her brain reminded her there was only empty darkness.

"You'll get lost," said the unseen boy. "Would you like me to be your eyes for now?"

She hung her head in embarrassment. "Okay," she said softly.

The boy laughed lightly. "That's great," he said, the smile in his voice clear. "Hey, is it all right if I call you–"

The vision came to a screeching halt, all of Rin's senses ripped from her simultaneously.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I've been suffering from a hellish case of writer's block, if you couldn't tell by the unplanned hiatus. You will never know the extent of my sorrow on that subject.**

**My life has been rather unpredictable lately, so I hope my readers can find it in their hearts to forgive me. Those of you who don't review (which is to say everyone but he two mentioned at the beginning) could consider trying it for the first time. It literally takes ten seconds to pull up the review window and type "I forgive you" and hit the button.**

**Try it.**

**Just as a random note, I've been kind of down in the dumps recently. One of my friends (we were writing buddies especially) moved to Oregon. Also, I found out on Tuesday that I will never see my favorite child in the world again. The last time I saw her was about a month ago, and we never got to say goodbye.**

**These two people inspired me greatly and indirectly helped me come up with a lot of material, so I'm going to thank them by incorporating them in this story. Maybe that way, I can lie to myself and think they never really left me.**

**~Paradox**


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